Abstract:
The occurrences of floods in Accra have become an annual event with severe
consequences mostly felt by the urban poor. The study assessed flooding and its
overall effects on the quality of life of residents of Maamobi in the Ayawaso
East Municipality of the Greater Accra region of Ghana. The study was a
descriptive survey and the views of 150 respondents were sought through the
administration of questionnaires. Primary and Secondary sources of data
collection method were used and data collected from the field was processed and
analysed through the use of Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS)
version 16.0. Opinions were quite varied regarding the human-induced activities
contributing to flooding as majority (42%) of the respondents believed it is poor
urban development. It was revealed from the study that 68% of the respondents
believed that they experienced flooding whenever there was a heavy rainfall
within the Community and 54% often times experienced flooding between May
and June of each year. Knowledge and perception of residents about flood are
key in solving flooding-related activities within the community. However, the
knowledge and perception of respondents on the condition of flood was quite
mixed but a majority of 62% of the respondents believe shallow running water
is a flood condition. It can therefore, be concluded that the knowledge and
perception risk of residents of Maamobi with regards to flooding are quite high;
making them to adapt strategies to mitigate flooding disaster. Government
should mainstream flood risk management into wider development plan. This
can afford local government not to ignore risks, particularly those related to
flood, climate change, urbanization and environmental degradation.
