There has been another mudslide at Mortormeh site on Monday 25 June 2018, after a heavy downpour of rain, however there were no injuries or property destroyed. According to eyewitness accounts, around 3:00 p.m., loud thunder was heard and boulders started rolling down hill at the mudslide site.
Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) Disaster Management Coordinator, Thomas Abu, said they were doing training in the area when the incident occurred. He confirmed “…there were no injuries or property destroyed.”
However, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has been working on the resuscitation of the site in to a green zone. SLRCS has also intervened by engaging on tree planning exercise in last year’s flood affected areas.
Early in the morning on August 14, 2017, after three days of torrential rainfall, devastating floods and mudslides occurred in and around Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown. Heavy rainfall extended throughout the country during an especially wet rainy season, causing one of the most deadly and destructive disasters in decades.
In the Western Area of Sierra Leone, rainfall totaled 41 inches (104 cm) since July 1 – nearly tripling the region’s seasonal average. The destructive behavior of the mudslides was exacerbated by a number of factors, including the city’s location at or below sea level, poor infrastructure, and ineffective drainage system. The final death toll listed 1,141 people dead or missing. More than 3,000 people were left homeless and hundreds of buildings were damaged or destroyed by the mudslides.
After the initial threat receded, former president Ernest Bai Koroma responded to the disaster and urged for unity amid recovery efforts. Widespread medical and search teams donated by the international community assisted thousands of people, and established temporary relocation centers. While dealing with damaged passageways and continued downpours, excavation teams recovered over 300 bodies in the first few days alone, overwhelming the Connaught Hospital mortuary in Freetown and resulting in mass burials to curb the threat of disease.
OG/26/6/18
By Ophaniel Gooding
Wednesday June 27, 2018.
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