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Urban planning and extreme flooding

12 images Created 4 Apr 2022

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  • A plot of land for sale in Taha, Ghana, pictured during an episode of flooding.<br />
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The community of Taha is a developing suburb of Tamale, situated in the Northern part of Ghana.<br />
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In the past two years, the community has dealt with the consequences of severe flooding, with many properties and businesses going under water.<br />
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Taha is a fast growing suburb, and has seen a rapid influx of people. But this rapid influx has meant that proper planning has been neglected, and houses like this one have been built with no provision for water drainage, despite flooding being a recurrent problem here.
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  • The same plot of land in Taha pictured several weeks later.<br />
Urban development has been rapid here, and little to no provision has been made towards proper urban planning. There are no gutters to help evacuate water after heavy rains.
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  • A waterway formed on a piece of land by a recent flood in Taha. <br />
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This large piece of land gets flooded  every time it rains. For this reason, all attempts at building on this land have been abandoned, and people now usually use it to dump refuse. <br />
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Taha's flooding challenge isn't helped by illegal dumping. Nor is it helped by poor planning, which doesn't allow water to drain from lands, such as this one. <br />
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A gutter is now being built aound here in an attempt to reduce flooding.
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  • A choked gutter in Taha.<br />
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There are a few gutters existing in the community of Taha. But some of these have thus far been used as makeshift bins, where residents pour their rubbish. They block water from evacuating during flooding episodes, as plastic bottles and other things pile up in the gutters. <br />
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Some residents do not seem to understand the effects of their actions, and this practice is still seen around town, even after flooding episodes.
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  • A home lies deserted after being submerged in flood water.<br />
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Several houses that were still under construction have been severely damaged by recent floods in Taha.<br />
This house is one of them. It had its fencing walls pushed down during the floods, resulting in it being submerged in water.
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  • The same house under construction pictured a few weeks after the flooding episode. This house is now abandoned by the owner because of the high cost involved in the constant repair due to the damage caused by the water. The extensive damage is not restricted to the walls surrounding the house but also the house itself. <br />
This brings into question the safety of the structure.  <br />
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CAN WE PLEASE FIND A DIFFERENT CAPTION FOR THE AFTER PICTURE SO IT'S NOT REPETITIVE? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THIS HOUSE NOW? WILL CONSTRUCTION REPRISE? WILL PEOPLE MOVE ELSEWHERE?
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  • Building materials shop submerged by floodwaters in Taha.<br />
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In the growing community of Taha, where construction projects have flourished, the unfortunate aftermath of flooding has disrupted business for some traders. This particular building materials shop, offering essential supplies, now stands submerged. The floodwaters have caused extensive damage to the inventory, halting ongoing building projects.
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  • The same building materials shop, pictured several weeks after a recent flooding episode. <br />
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CAN WE ALSO ADD A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CAPTION HERE? SOMETHING ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THE FLOOD ON THIS SHOP? IS IT STILL OPEN? ARE THE MATERIALS USABLE AND SELLABLE?
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  • A house sits surrounded by persisting stagnant water. <br />
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In a desperate attempt to protect their home from the encroaching flooding water, the residents constructed a low fence in front of their house. However, their efforts presented an unexpected challenge. Despite their intentions, the water managed to seep through and now remains stagnant within the compound. With no viable outlet, the stagnant water poses a new predicament for the inhabitants
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  • Agbeka Holla navigates floodwaters on her way to school in Sagnarigu Kuokuo.<br />
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Sagnarigu Kuokuo, situated in Tamale's Sagnarigu District, has emerged as a new residential area attracting government workers, traders, and housewives. However, similar to neighboring Taha, the community has been grappling with recurrent flooding issues. Agbeka Holla, a determined 14-year-old student in her final year at Seventh Day Adventist (S.D.A) school, faces the challenge of traversing flooded roads during the rainy season. She takes an alternative route outside the community, braving the water on foot before boarding a tricycle to continue her journey
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  • Newly built gutters in the community of Taha.<br />
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Taha's residents have suffered significant losses due to poor planning, but efforts are underway to mitigate the issue. In a step towards rectifying the problem, the community is now witnessing the construction of small gutters. These newly built gutters aim to connect and lead to a larger waterway, providing an efficient means for water evacuation. This initiative brings a ray of hope to Taha, as the community strives to address its drainage challenges.
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  • Large waterways being created, which future gutters will lead to.<br />
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The residents of Taha have lamented consistently about the damage to their homes and property in the past two years. With the help of their assembly man, they are now having waterways being built to carry all the runoffs from smaller gutters away from the community.<br />
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Until now, a large piece of land served as some sort of marshland, where all the water would run off to.
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