Examining Floods in Accra: A Community Approach to Disaster Preparedness in the Ga South District Assembly, Weija

Abstract

Ghanaians are increasingly finding themselves exposed to various forms of disasters more importantly, floods. Concerns have, however, been raised on how prepared and equipped most residents are towards disaster in their communities. As such, this study was designed to ascertain the extent of community preparedness for disasters in some selected settlements in Weija. Weija was selected as the study area for this research because of its proneness to flooding due to heavy rains and also the spillage of the Weija dam. The study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative method of data collection to identify causes of flooding and preparedness measures that are put in place. The research revealed that members in the surveyed communities were not the least prepared for disasters in that they did not have an effective early warning system in place. Also, the Disaster Volunteer Groups (DVG's) in the community were not up to the speed because they lacked the knowledge and technical know-how to act as fust responders whilst awaiting external assistance. It was also revealed that a community based approach was not the current practice in the community since the resident, who would form the basis of this critical approach are not fully empowered.