The Director-General of the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), Dr Eric Asuman, has urged Ghanaians to take weather forecasts seriously, warning that the absence of disasters after previous forecasts should not lead to complacency.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Dr Asuman rejected suggestions that GMet failed to warn the public ahead of the recent floods that affected parts of the country.
“We won’t accept that we didn’t inform Ghanaians of the rains,” he stated.
According to him, the agency continuously issues weather updates through its 24-hour forecasting system, with forecasts reviewed every six hours.
“We are always updating our 24-hour forecasts. They are updated every six hours,” he said.
Dr Asuman noted that GMet also engages the media regularly and provides sector-specific advisories to relevant institutions to aid preparedness.
“We do many media engagements. Every sector advisory was sent out to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, the health sector, agriculture, NADMO and other stakeholders,” he explained.
He observed that many people tend to disregard weather forecasts when predicted events do not result in major disasters.
“Sometimes when disaster doesn’t happen, we don’t take the forecast seriously,” he said.
The GMet Director-General disclosed that the agency had forecast rainfall ahead of the June 29 floods but said the duration of the downpour exceeded expectations.
“In the midnight forecast for the June 29 disaster, we mentioned that it would rain. We only didn’t warn that it would rain as much as it did,” he stated.
Dr Asuman explained that although the rainfall intensity was not exceptionally heavy, the prolonged duration of the downpour, coupled with saturated ground conditions from previous rains, contributed to the widespread flooding.
“It wasn’t a heavy rain, but it rained for a long period of time. That was what caused it. It added to the previous days of rain because the ground was already wet,” he said.
He further revealed that rainfall recorded in June this year is the highest ever observed for the month.
“This year’s June rains are the highest ever,” he added.
Dr Asuman urged the public and institutions to pay closer attention to weather advisories and act promptly to minimise the impact of future extreme weather events.
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