At least 500 displaced by floods

At least 500 people in Ghana have been displaced by flooding caused by heavy rains in the capital, Accra, and in the second largest central city of Kumasi, officials said on Tuesday. The Ghana meteorological department, on Monday said the two cities received 123.3 mm of rainfall in a 10-hour downpour on Sunday. Military personnel evacuated people using boats on Tuesday from flooded parts of the cities. The displaced were also issued blankets. Property worth billions of cedis was estimated to have been lost in several suburbs of Accra including Mamprobi, Dansomnam, Okaishie and Adabraka, authorities said. Schools, such as the Christian Methodist Secondary School were closed while several buildings collapsed. The Minister of Works and Housing, Yaw Barimah toured the areas that had been flooded to asses the damage on Monday, while the Minister of Information, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey visited the government news company, the New Times Corporation which had also been flooded. The meteorological department said more heavy rains were expected in the country, adding that the rainy season had just began. Similar heavy rains killed six people in Accra in 2001 and destroyed property.