GMet to Ghanaians: Pay attention to weather warnings

The Ghana Meteorological Agency has warned Ghanaians to expect continued heavy rainfall in the coming months

The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has warned Ghanaians to expect heavy rainfall in the coming months following a downpour that caused chaos in the capital, Accra, on Monday (6 May).

Joseph Portuphy, deputy director in charge of forecasting at GMet, emphasised the importance of Ghanaians heeding weather warnings issued by the agency.

“Currently, we are in our major rainy season,” Portuphy said. “Normally, when we are in the major rainy season, we expect this type of rain. The best thing is, if you look at the rain today (6 May), [a] weather warning was issued around 5am.”

Portuphy highlighted the role of the media in disseminating weather warnings, acknowledging GMet’s limitations in reaching the public directly.

“We rely on the mass media, the radio stations,” he explained. “[Unfortunately], none of them mentioned anything on the weather warning. At least when you mention it … people will take caution when they are going out. If you are going to somewhere that you know is a flood-prone area, you will not go there.”

“It is only the early warning that has been the problem; as for the rain, they’ll come, the strong winds will come, but our preparation towards it is what matters,” Portuphy added.