Gbarnga – Residents of several parts of Gbarnga, Bong County, were rendered homeless as a result of a downpour of rain on Wednesday which lasted for several hours.
FrontPageAfrica correspondent in the county reports that the rainfall started at about 10:00 p.m on Wednesday and lasted until 8:00 am on Thursday.
Worst hit areas are Civil Compound, Rubber Factory, where houses and vehicles have been submerged by floodwater; Kula Village and Jorkpenmue.
When FrontPageAfrica visited the affected areas on Thursday, some of the victims, including traders were salvaging their damaged belongings from the flood.
Several of them, including children and the aged, had moved to houses of neighbors who were not seriously affected. Some of the items damaged by the flood included clothing, furniture, household utensils, electronics and other assorted materials.
Some residents of the affected areas said the flooding was as a result of constant sand mining at the bank of River Jor and other parts of Gbarnga.
Residents of the area told our reporter that they could not sleep in their various houses as they ran for safety on Wednesday night.
A resident of Kula Village community, Beatrice Foday, said: “The people that are carrying on sand mining at the bank of the river should be arrested because they are the ones who have caused this flood. It’s time for the county leadership to abolish sand mining along the Jor River because this puts residents who are residing close to the river in problem during flooding like what we’re experiencing today”.
“The flooding has become a constant occurrence in their area since people began mining sand along the bank of the Jor River,” she said.
Another, Nathaniel Peabody, added: “We want the government to prevent people from mining sand at the bank of the Jor River because of what we (those living close to the river). It’s causing serious problem for us.”
Moses Flomo, a resident of Robbery Factory community, on his part, described the situation as pathetic, adding that they were rendered hopeless as they watch flood completely submerged their house and destroy property.
Flomo blamed the flood in the area to the constant mining of sand along the banks of the Jor Rivernewly constructed road without proper channelling of the water.
Derrick, another victim, said the residents of the area were all trapped in their homes by the flood. “My wife and I couldn’t go to work because we’ve been trying to salvage the little we could salvage from all the ruins you are looking at. The fence is totally gone, and you can see the whole building is now tilted towards another direction. he said.
This is the worst experience I have had since I moved into the Rubber Factory community one year ago,” Amos Thomson, 42, a furniture maker in one of the affected communities told FrontPageAfrica as he tried to salvage what remained of his property.
Bong County superintendent Esther Walker, while reacting to the incident, attributed the flooding to the lack of proper layout in the affected areas.
She said the flooding was not as a result of sand mining as claimed by some residents but as a result of the failure of the affected residents to create water pathways while building their houses.
