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News | Africa | West Africa

Severe floods hit Sierra Leonean capital

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE Sep 12 2008 12:58
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Several parts of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, were submerged in more than 1m of water on Friday after five hours of torrential rain, meteorologists here said.

"It is probably the heaviest downpour since the start of the rainy season" in May, meteorologist John Koroma said of late Thursday's storm.

Flood waters destroyed homes, swept away household goods and damaged vehicles amid unconfirmed reports of people having been buried alive in homes when huge boulders were dislodged from hilltops overlooking the capital.

The rain caused huge traffic jams throughout the city and forced businesses and markets to close.

Houses around the city's waterfront were the hardest hit. At the slum community of Kroo Bay, in the city's central district, occupants abandoned their houses to seek shelter on higher ground.

Musu Sesay, a fishmonger who was drenched and shivering from the cold, said "it is as if the world was coming to an end with all this water".

Shaking her head in disbelief, she was wondering where so much water could come from when everybody seemed to be talking about a water shortage.

Relief workers from the Ministry of Health and the city council were out in large numbers to clear debris while humanitarian organisations sent officials to assist victims. -- AFP

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