Agbozume

In the rainy season of 2023, ceaseless precipitations inundated large parts of Agbozume, a smalltown of 5.000 inhabitants in the Ketu Municipal District. The inundations lasted for weeks, they affected town life heavily and have left traces in the infrastructures and minds of the residents up to the present day. Water drainage was complicated, gutters were clogged and a canal had to be dug inorder to direct the water masses to the nearby Keta Lagoon. The strong will of the local authorities and many inhabitants, who mobilized means for a floating bridge, brought relief. But the supply with freshwater has remained an issue for long after the disaster.

What happend | Impacts and affectedness  | Coping and adaptation strategies  | Why, and where to?

What happened? Course of the events

Eye-witnesses report what happened. How torrential rainfalls inundate Agbozume with a speed and intensity that none of them had seen. How they tried saving their belonings and  fought with the water masses. How they coped with the situation in the crucial hours.

„This video shows how our school, AGBOZUME AME ZION BASIC SCHOOL was affected by the flood water.  Teaching and learning were negatively affected.“

Abley Godwin

„The second video shows how my house and rooms were heavily flooded. I didn’t get place to sleep or park my belongings. Everything I had was destroyed by the flood water and nobody was ready to help. In fact, life was miserable. Nowhere to sleep or even cook.“

Abley Godwin

„This third video also shows how our main roads and streets had been affected making life unbearable for  both young and olds.“

Abley Godwin

Interview with Emmanuel

“It was unexpected. We were not expecting it. It was like a dream. We were not expecting the flood. It started like a normal one, and suddenly we were the first the flood came to. Because we did not expect it, we were not prepared for it.”

Emmanuel

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Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman
“It was unexpected to everybody in the community what happened was out of control.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 1
“The situation that hit us here is beyond sandbags.”
Gilbert
Gilbert 3
“The flood covered the whole compount it became very tough to come to school.”
Mawutor
Mawutor_market
“After three hours it started to rain again, very heavy before we realized it, the house got flooded.”

After the flood: Impacts and affectedness

The aftermath of the flood began with an inspection of the damages and a counting of losses. Houses had been uninhabitable for weeks, school life came to a breakdown, livelihoods were destroyed, help was mobilized from the traditional authority and mutual support was organized within the community. Everyday life was no longer the same and the flood left traces in the built as well as in the individuals‘ and social structures.

Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman 2
“You cry, you weep the water was everywhere.”
Mawutor
Mawutor_market 2
“Our area never gets flooded, but this time it did.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 2
“Everywhere we have been affected. We have never seen it before.”

Damages and destruction

Matilda
Matilda
“Even after two years the land has not drained the water.”
Matilda
Matilda 2
“People’s properties were destroyed, and they had no help.”
Matilda
Matilda
“The flood took over people’s houses, so they had to move to relatives.”
Matilda
Matilda 2
“It lasted three months before the flood went down.”

Everyday life

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„That was the status of the house where I lived, during the heavy and devastating flood. It was very sympathetic to live in such condition with no help coming from anywhere. Up to till now, we are still counting on our lost.“

Abley Godwin

Matilda
Mawutor_market 2
“Movement was restrictedit was slippery I wished I had a walking stick.”
Matilda
Matilda
“Livelihood became difficult the flood took over farmlands and markets.”
Mawutor
Mawutor_market
“Outside the house it was all covered with water we crossed barefoot every day.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 2
“My side was flooded seven to eight months… everyday life was very difficult.”
Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market 2
“To go home I had to go through the flood. It disturbed everybody’s life.”

Livlelihoods

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Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market 2
“Some people still haven’t returned to their homes.”
Saviour
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“Cassava farms were destroyed. Most of the people lost their money.”
Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market
“It destroyed our economic activities our capital went down.”
Mawutor
Mawutor_market 2
“We had to cross pool after pool of water before getting to the market.”
Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market
“The market was flooded up to the knees… it took almost a year to restart business.”

School

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„This video also shows how the flood water affected the life of both teachers and students in AGBOZUME AME ZION BASIC SCHOOL, thereby impacted negatively on teaching and learning.“

Abley Godwin

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„Another video showing the status of Agbozume AME ZION BASIC SCHOOL in the ketu south of the volta region of Ghana during the 2023 floods.“

Abley Godwin

Gilbert
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“We had to wear boots there were diseases and snakes we guided the pupils.”
Matilda
Matilda 2
“Coming to school wasn’t easy we backpacked some of the smaller children.”
Gilbert
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“The school was closed… the water covered the whole compound.”
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How to deal? Coping and adaptation strategies

The flood cannot not be made unhappened, so what to learn from it? The community members, each in their way, found ways of coping.

Also, new modes of adaptation became necessary. Some of the coping strategies had already developed during the disaster, others were called for afterwards: an improved catastrophe management and better measures for flood protection.

Help and support

Paramount Chief of Somé Traditional Area, Torgbiga Adama III (third person from the left)

Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman
“Some used canoes to bring people across the river.”
Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman 2
“Politics won’t support your idea if you’re not in their party.”
Mawutor
Mawutor_market
“Nobody came to give us anything.”
Matilda
Matilda
“Some people received help from NGOs they gave them food.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 1
“Torgbiga and some engineers dug a way so the water could go to the lagoon.”

solidarity

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Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman
“The excavator was organized by Adama we donated fuel for it.”
Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman
“Torgbiga Adama supported us with 1500 Cedis.”
Saviour
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“We donated 6000 Cedis and built a footbridge.”
Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market 2
“We helped each other by moving to relatives or friends not affected.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 2
“We encouraged ourselves.”

Church / Believe

Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 2
“I survived because I trusted God. It was one of the tests.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 1
“I trust in God, everything will be fine.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 2
“Normally we are 60 to 80, now we are around 20.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 1
“The church was flooded. I encouraged the people that the Lord is at our side.”

Why, and where to? Disaster reasons and reasoning

Looking ahead means looking back in order to identify the causes for what the community had to endure. While the flood seemed to be a natural phenomenon, the reasons for the catastrophe were also man-made: human failure and unpreparedness are co-responsible for the disaster‘s dimension. Naming the reasons for the flood strongly depends on the witnesses‘ inidividual perspective.

Looking ahead includes a thorough and honest analysis – was it just ‚nature‘, and what role does climate change play? How man-made is climate change? It comprises the formulation of what must be done to prevent, or at least mitigate, similar events in the future.

Reason finding

Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market
“I have no idea why the rainfall pattern has changed.”
Gilbert
Gilbert
“The reason for the flood is the improper planning of the town.”
Matilda
Matilda 2
“We learned it was just because of the rain.”
Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market
“The continuation and intensity of the rain created the problem.”
Gilbert
Gilbert 3
“The causes are heavy rainfalls.”

Anxiety

Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman 2
“Nobody knows tomorrow.”
Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 1
“We can’t do anything. The situation is beyond our control.”
Elizabeth
Elizabeth_market 2
“We are scared when the rainy season starts we don’t know if it will happen again.”

Faith and hope

Mawutor
Mawutor_market 2
“We need the rain, but we hope it comes more slowly and not destructive.”
Mawutor
Mawutor_market
“I believe this kind of rainfall will not happen again we are praying.”

Engineering

Emmanuel
Emmanuel_Preacher 1
“I hope the government can help fix our roads and gutters so we can live peacefully.”
Saviour
Saviour_assemblyman 2
“The gatter goes in the wrong direction.”
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