Abstract:
Highly concentrated urban areas have experienced many floods over the last decades.
There has been significant increase in the trend of extreme rainfall events, in the face of a
lack of effective flood management systems. Though rainfall in Ghana has been
decreasing since the 1970’s, and the government has initiated many disaster reduction
interventions, incidences of flooding have ironically continued to increase. The study
explores the post-flood disaster response mechanisms, effectiveness and dynamics in
Ghana using the June 2010 flood incidences in Ashaiman and Agona Swedru as case
study. This is undertaken through both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The
study reveals that the interest and commitment of the institutions as well the public in
undertaking flood risk reduction activities have waned with time. This is explained in an
Activity Level Decline Model. Response operations should emphasise highly on
preventive measures that would appreciably mitigate flood risk factors and make the
communities safe from floods. This would, however, need the total commitment of all
actors concerned with disaster risk management. In the long term, interest should be
focused on activities such as local community outreach using the community, the churches
and other religious organisations as the platform for the campaigns. More significantly,
inter-organisational platforms and forums should be annually organised through which
information and ideas on effective disaster prevention, preparedness, response and
recovery activities could be exchanged, and orientations of concerned stakeholders
properly shaped to reflect more of prevention and mitigation initiatives.
