Floods Leave Several Homeless In Paynesville, Affect Streets In Monrovia As Residents Cry For Help

Residents of the Outland Community in Paynesville are pleading with the government and humanitarians to help the community increase the size of the drainages to allow the free flow of water to avert floods.

During the late evening hours on Sunday, heavy rainfall led many residents homeless when they were forced out of their homes after they became flooded.
Moses Tamba a resident and one of those affected told K-News that the flood is the result of poor engineering work and the wrongful use of the drainages as they have been cloaked due to the garbage thrown in them.

He said during the pavement of the alleys with asphalt, the drainages installed were narrowed, and with their continued misuse, the community gets flooded within minutes after a heavy downpour of rain.

“We were forced to take our families away from our homes due to the overflow of water. As I speak, the water has almost swallowed my living room’’ Tamba lamented.
“We need help from everywhere. We are dying. We need the public, government, and humanitarians to come to our aid. The culvert is too small to host the water along with the dirt.

He also blamed those in the upper part of the community for continuously throwing dirt into the drainage; something he said is the main cause of the problem.

The heavy downpour of rain also affected Monrovia with several streets being flooded which led to the disruption of the free flow of traffic. Vehicles, tricycles, and motorcycles were seen stranded in the waters.
Speaking to K-News several communities and business people expressed their disappointment in the government for not opening those drainages across Monrovia.

A businessman whose drug store was affected told reporters that since Saturday morning, he has not been able to open his business center because of the flood.
He said several calls were placed to the Ministry of Public Works for help but were turned down.

“Today is Monday no way again for me to open my store because of this flood since Saturday morning my store has been closed, I tried getting the ministry of public work but there was no response”

Henry Walker Jr., a 23-year-old motorcyclist said flooding in Monrovia remains a major challenge for the Government of Liberia because; adding there was a need to find a solution to address the situation.

“The reason being the flood has taken over is that all the drainages in Monrovia are cloaked and this situation remains a major challenge for the Weah-led government and believe that it is time that the government of Liberia do something about this”.

Another affected area, as observed by K-News, was the Japanese Freeway and the Freeport of Monrovia road leading to Via Town.