By Hassan I. Conteh
The climate in Sierra Leone is stormy. There have been more torrent, windy storms in the country since the start of the rainy season.
On Saturday June 3rd, 2023, wild thunderstorms brought heavy rains on rooftops.
The stormy rains dropped with heavy force at around 3 in the morning when people were in deep sleep.
“We had to stay awake till dawn when I heard the thunderstorm,’’ recounts, Mohamed, a resident in Waterloo.
Like Mohamed, most people whose rooftops are not too strong had to stay awake at that night.
“I had deep fear that the storm might kick off our roof,” he says.
Since May this year, storms started coming but with lightening thunderbolts. Most people who have observed the country’s weather conditions say there have been some noticeable changes.
These changes also happen in other countries. And that is what scientists now refer to climate change. That the world weather patterns are experiencing changes.
Unlike the usual lightening thunderbolts in October nights in Sierra Leone, there have been too much thunderstorms and lightenings in the start of May.
Unlike in the past, 2023 rainy season has brought down trees and houses, causing the loss of many lives.
In May 24, the country’s cotton tree succumbed to Sierra Leone’s wild storms. The cotton tree fell down at round 10 at night when a heavy breeze was blowing the capital.
In the main capital Freetown, on Wednesday May 24, office doors creaked opened while the heavy storm splashed window-frames. The demise of the old cotton tree was mourned by most Sierra Leoneans. Freetown’s cotton tree was historically a place where early freed slaves from America had settled since 1792.
The country’s beautiful cotton tree was sadly forced by the storm to sit down in front of the High Court of Sierra Leone. Its beautiful edifice is gone. It used to beautify the seat of power as it was close to State House.
Like the fall of Freetown’s cotton tree along Siaka Stevens street, another big cotton tree surrendered to May 9, 2023 storm at Delakuru village in north of Koinadugu district in Sierra Leone.
There about six people were killed by the falling cotton tree. At Moa wharf, a perimeter fence killed about three people in that May 9 storm while a three story building also collapsed on the same day and caused casualties in Western Area Rural district.
This tells us that the weather in Sierra Leone is very bad as predicted by the country’s meteorological agency. This year authorities at Sierra Leone’s weather agency have warned that the country will have little rains but floods would be expected.
The fact that Sierra Leone, in 2017, was ranked the third most vulnerable countries in the world after Bangladesh and Guinea Bissau to the effects of Climate Change, according to Africa NDC Hub. It means that, as Sierra Leoneans, we have a duty to protect our forests since most of the disasters we had suffered over the years were as a result of deforestation.
This is because more trees are cut down each year to make way for homes.
“You go to a place called New London close to Jui/Kossoh Town in the east, the very dam that has been serving water to residents down Kossoh Town has dried up because houses have been built around it and pillaging of the forest is continuing further up the hills around,” a writer of Politico newspaper’s satirical twitter page, had remarked.
Though storms could bring down houses, fences and trees, Freetown’s old cotton tree could have survived May 24 storm had it been given much care by tree surgeons, over the years. Why do we still have other cotton trees in the capital? Were there securities safeguarding the historical cotton on Siaka Stevens street?
However, since we have seen the loss of many lives of people just in the beginning of this year’s rainy season, it is good now that government disaster authorities keep contact toll lines up and running.
To avoid too many disasters, people should be encouraged to clear the rubbish in gutter ways and residents whose rooftops are weak must be told to repair them now before rains begin to pour heavily.