Rains on Friday, May 6, 2022, which lasted several hours, brought more worry than relief to the city of Accra, with several uprooted trees blocking arterial roads and snapping electrical wires.
Areas such as Osu, Labone and Legon saw drivers inconvenienced, with others changing routes due to the blockage.
One of the heaviest trees to fall was on the road in front of the Labone Senior High School.
It happened after the downpour blocking a distinct portion of the road.
Its roots were uprooted; a part of the wall of the Labone SHS was destroyed. The tree also fell on an electrical wire.
Three persons with a chainsaw were working swiftly to help remove the tree from the road for free flow of traffic when Citi News got to the scene on Friday.
There were no major accidents or injuries. Drivers were heavily inconvenienced.
Maxwell Kwame Nyanui is an eyewitness, and he told Citi News that: “I am stationed here. And a car came to our yard. The car wanted to go out, so I have to be on the road and direct the car because other cars were also coming. So, I stopped on the road and I saw that the wind was blowing, so the car I was directing decided not to come again. So, I was like what is happening before he signalled me that a tree was about to fall from the other side of the road, where I was standing. I managed to escape. No one was injured”.
On the Angola Avenue adjacent the Osu Cemetery in Accra, a similar incident also happened.
The road was totally blocked. Riders with bicycles and motorcycles were the only ones who were able to use the road. No casualties were recorded.
After hours, the Department of Parks and Gardens came in to clear the road.
Henry Ababio witnessed the incident and he spoke to Citi News.
“This afternoon (May 6, 2022), around the 11:10am and I saw the wind blowing heavily. All we realized was that it started raining. A few minutes later we saw that with the wind blowing heavily, the tree just uprooted and fell on the road. So, I decided to stop vehicles approaching to avert any casualty.”
A similar incident occurred at the University of Ghana, Legon. Although no casualty was recorded, a vehicle the tree fell on was heavily destroyed.