Rain

Teshie is flooded this morning. It rained all night last night and is still raining now. The drainage system is completely over burdened and there are rivers more or less running over the roads. We tried to go to work, but it seems as if no one is travelling at the moment. The radio says that this is the "tip of the iceberg" and that we should expect to get more rain during the day today.

I'm working from home this morning, and I hope that travel conditions improve enough to make it into town for a meeting this afternoon. I now have a much greater appreciation for why it is schools close down when it rains; it is dangerous! While I'm sure the dedicated few are trying to travel, I can't help but think about the back roads we take on the tro-tros, how much flooding there is just after a normal rainstorm, and how bad they must be this morning. I can't imagine many of them are passable via the normal routes.

I'm hoping the flooding isn't too bad elsewhere and that the damage is kept to a minimum. A few weeks ago there were heavy rains and floods in Kaneshie (another part of Accra) that killed several people and caused millions of cedis worth of damage [news article]. It isn't that the rains are so great, rather it is because the drainage systems are so poorly maintained that these problems arise and are of such a great magnitude. Refuse and human wastes are routinely dumped into drainage systems in parts of Accra and with the rains silt, soil, rocks, and clay are washed into the ditches gradually clogging the system. Problems with the drainage systems and misuse of drainage systems are responsible for ourbreaks of cholera and malaria in Accra.

With that said, off to work with me. And, for good measure, I'll join the little kid behind our house in his singing: "Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!"