By- Aruna Rashed Toma Bangura

The Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency has on past Friday 5th May, 2023 updated pressmen on the weather forecast for this year’s rainy season at their Headquarters on Charlotte Street, Freetown.

Giving a brief overview, the Deputy Director of Meteorological Agency, Mr. Gabriel Kpaka stated that they provided an update on the weather for 2023 using a thirty years old data dating from 1992 to 2023, adding that this year there is going to be a low deficit of rainfall and an increase of temperature.

He said the farmers will experience late planting season due to a deficit of rainfall from 0.6 to 0.8. And Freetown last year recorded 1,500mm of rainfall being the region with the highest amount of rainfall.

Mr. Kpaka furthered the ocean temperature is getting warm with a deficit in rainfall and total amount of rainfall to reduce coupled with late planting season for farmers.

He said there is going to be strong and dusty wind, thunderstorm and lightening but not as early as it happened last year, risk of flood because of the long dry spell and the land use, a high risk of rainfall urban induced farming, coastal area flooding due to strong wind and pest/insect outbreak and development of germs.

According to Mr. Kpaka they have to strengthen the monitoring and response capacities of agencies and enhanced communication of seasonal forecast produced by Sierra Leone Meteorological agency, strengthen the communication of the daily and updated version of weather forecast, discourage the uncontrolled occupation of flood prone areas, strengthen protective dikes and ensure the maintenance of dams and road infrastructure, clean sewage channels to facilitate the evacuation of rainwater and raise awareness on different media platforms and so forth.

In the area of flood mitigation, Mr. Kpaka said that they have engaged in stakeholders’ consultation and the National Disaster Management Agency with other agencies is working to make sure that everybody is safe and are also putting out early warning signs.