Floods Kill 18, Collapse 58 Buildings

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has issued a final 14-day ultimatum to occupants of weak and unsafe buildings across the Central Region to vacate the structures or face forced demolition, following a series of disasters that have claimed 18 lives and affected nearly 9,000 people.

The directive follows devastating floods, building collapses, mudslides, landslides, drowning incidents, and falling trees that hit several parts of the region over the weekend, causing widespread destruction.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, and later during a post-disaster assessment tour, the Central Regional Director of NADMO, Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood, said authorities could no longer tolerate delays in the evacuation of buildings that pose a serious threat to lives and property.

According to him, many of the affected structures had long been identified as unsafe and marked for demolition, but repeated appeals from landlords, landladies, and occupants seeking more time to secure alternative accommodation had delayed enforcement actions.

“We have some landlords, landladies, and families who always come to us to plead for more time so that they can find alternative accommodation whilst we pull down such structures. What we have realised is that most of them do not intend to leave the structures. Meanwhile, these structures are death traps on their own,” Mr. Dawood said.

He explained that some of the weakened buildings had already collapsed on their own, resulting in deaths, while others had fallen onto neighbouring structures, causing injuries and extensive property damage.

Mr. Dawood said NADMO’s latest directive gives occupants a final opportunity to vacate the affected properties voluntarily before authorities move in to enforce demolitions.

“To save lives and protect properties, we have issued our final evacuation order, giving them a fortnight. Within this grace period, they are free to evacuate and do the demolition at their own expense,” he said.

He warned that any landlord, landlady, tenant, or occupier who fails to comply with the directive within the 14-day period would face compulsory demolition and be required to bear the associated costs.

“After the 14-day grace period, any landlord, landlady, tenant, or occupier who still remains in their residential or commercial property will have their building pulled down, but they will have to pay for the cost of demolition for failing to evacuate,” he added.

The Regional Director attributed the increasing risk of building collapses to the poor condition and age of many structures in the region. He noted that several of the buildings were constructed more than a century ago and had received little or no maintenance over the years.

“Most of these buildings were put up over 100 years ago. There has been little or no maintenance and several deteriorations over the years. Most of them were made of swish or sand. Looking at how long the buildings have existed without maintenance, we can say some lives are in danger,” he said.

The latest warning follows extensive damage caused by torrential rains that affected 13 metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) across the Central Region, with the Cape Coast Metropolis emerging as the hardest-hit area.

Mr. Dawood disclosed that Cape Coast alone recorded six deaths—five resulting from building collapses and one from drowning.

He said assessments conducted by NADMO and the Regional Disaster Management Committee identified 8,981 people affected by the disasters across the region. The assessment also recorded 58 collapsed buildings and 377 internally displaced persons, many of whom are currently staying with relatives, friends, churches, and traditional authorities.

The affected areas include Cape Coast, Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem, Mfantseman, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Upper Denkyira East, Upper Denkyira West, Awutu Senya West, and several other districts.

According to Mr. Dawood, the fatalities recorded across the region resulted from a combination of building collapses, flooding, mudslides, landslides, drowning incidents, and falling trees. The scale of the disaster, he said, has placed enormous pressure on NADMO’s relief resources and emergency response capacity.

“We have recorded 18 fatalities and thousands of victims. Our contingency stocks have been heavily depleted, and we urgently require support to assist affected families,” Mr. Dawood said.

He therefore appealed to corporate organisations, non-governmental organisations, faith-based groups, traditional authorities, and philanthropists to support affected victims with food items, mattresses, blankets, roofing sheets, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and educational materials.

Mr. Dawood also expressed concern about the plight of students whose hostels and educational materials were destroyed by floodwaters, particularly in communities around the University of Cape Coast and Cape Coast Technical University.

According to him, many students lost books, mattresses, laptops, and other personal belongings, creating additional challenges for their academic work.

On the causes of the recurring floods, Mr. Dawood blamed the indiscriminate dumping of refuse into waterways, blocked drainage systems, and the illegal reclamation of wetlands and natural water channels.

He explained that plastic waste and unregulated developments had obstructed the natural flow of stormwater, worsening flooding in communities such as Amamoma, Ayensu, Kwaprow, Apewosika, and surrounding areas.

With more rainfall expected in the coming weeks, the NADMO Regional Director urged residents living in flood-prone and low-lying communities to relocate to safer areas immediately.