Another Devastating Mudslide in Freetown 

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Report of 28 AUG ’22 informs of flash floods and landslide in some communities in the Western Area Freetown and environs due to torrential rains in Kanikay, Culvert, Kaningo and Tengbeh Town, some houses and major roads are reportedly flooded leaving residents trapped in the raging waters and their properties destroyed. 

In Looking Town, there was a landslide that covered two houses and some people are reportedly trapped in the rubble. Residents in the community managed to remove five people from the rubble. Four (04) of them had already died and the remaining one, a child (age 7) was rescued alive and taken to the Rokupa Government Hospital. 

It was also reported that in Brook Street, a perimeter fence collapsed on a building which left some people trapped in the building while In Cassava Farm on Leicester Road, a building collapsed due to the torrential rain. However, no casualties have been reported.

At Mary Street by Circular Road, an electrical pole fell down and on Bai Bureh Road by Bumeh Landfill, a big tree fell down barricading the main street. This prevented vehicular movements and poses threats to pedestrians.

Below is a press statement from the Office of the Ntional Disaster Management Agency (NDMA)

“This is to inform the general public that there has been a continuous downpour of rain since the early hours of Sunday the 28th of August; which will continue according to the weather forecast from the Sierra Leone Metrological Agency. The torrential rain experienced has led to the loss of lives and the destruction of properties in various disaster-prone communities in Freetown. 

The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) visited various scenes to ascertain the severity of the reported incidents within Freetown.  At the Looking Town Community, NDMA in collaboration with the National Fire Force (NFF), The Sierra Leone Police (SLP), The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), CARITAS, the Freetown City Council (FCC), The Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education (MBSSE) and the community people were able to recover six (6) dead bodies which include four (4) male adults, one (1) girl child and one (1) female adult. The team also advised residents who were deemed to be residing in high-risk areas to relocate to safer areas,” the press release noted

According to the press release the agency in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation have taken the corpses to the Connaught hospital mortuary and currently providing treatment for injured victims from other disaster affected communities.   

At the Culvert Community, the team observed that the entire community flooded displacing a large proportion of residents including children, women, the elderly, and people living with disabilities. Eleven evacuation points have been identified close to the community for relocation of the affected population. 

The National Disaster Management Agency also received a report of a fence that collapsed on a house beneath it resulting in a fatality of an 18 years old man at Mount Aureol. The deceased has been conveyed to the Connaught Mortuary and residents are advised to relocate to safer areas. 

On Bai Bureh Road, by Bomeh Landfill, the team observed that a large tree fell across the road preventing vehicular movement and posed threat to pedestrians. The Sierra Leone Road Authority and RSLAF’s engineers are working on clearing it to free up traffic. 

The Sierra Leone Metrological Agency through its daily weather forecast has warned that the rain will continue for the next 24 hours. Thus, the NDMA is continuously advising members of the public living in low-lying areas to move to high grounds, those living on hilltops should stop throwing waste into drainages, and parents should ensure their children avoid walking in the rain and avoid drainages and willingly evacuate if told to do so. The public is also advised to turn off their electrical appliances when raining and listen to weather updates regularly from NDMA and SL

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