Wessua Town is a rural community in Gbarpolu County, Liberia. The community is blessed with many natural resources such as rivers, forest and diamonds. The landscape is beautiful and vast with hills and valleys, as well as flats. The community has an estimated population of around five thousand people, and it is artisanal diamond miners that make up the majority of the population. Many of whom come from other places to reside in the community because they were attracted to the diamonds. The major livelihood of the residents is artisanal diamond mining and agriculture; however, despite all the resources, the residents are living in abject poverty, many of them can afford only one meal per day, in fact many of them have to go to work before they are able to afford their one meal. Many of the residents cannot afford to build better homes for themselves because most of the houses were built decades ago and they are now in dilapidated states.
The damage caused by the windstorm
On Sunday 14th April 2024, a heavy windstorm hit Weasua and caused widespread damage to local homes. According to eyewitnesses, the disaster lasted for almost an hour, and it led to the destruction of seventy-two homes, rendering several residents homeless. Nine of the homes got badly damaged as the entire buildings were left roofless, while sixty-three homes were partially damaged. Not only did the windstorm damage the residents’ homes, it also damaged some of their personal belongings.
Thankfully, there was no injury, and neither was there any death. However, the disaster has posed a serious challenge to the residents, it has negatively impacted their lives, as they cannot afford to repair the damages. Their daily work routine was interrupted as they had to focus on repairing the damage caused.
What are the known factors that contributed to the destruction of homes by windstorm?
A windstorm is a natural disaster that has repeatedly caused damage to many homes throughout Liberia. This natural disaster is usually experienced in Liberia between September-October; however, it sometimes occurs randomly throughout the year. Factors such as warm ocean water, climate change, etc. are probably causes of a windstorm disaster; and when it occurs, it leaves homes and other infrastructures damaged. In most instances, the homes that get affected are those that are in poor state. Most of the houses in Weasua are vulnerable to windstorm and other forms of violent winds because they are poorly built and are now in dilapidated states.
Forest and domestic trees serve as windbreakers. They should be able to help protect the residents’ homes from wind damages; however, there are not many trees in the heart of the town. The artisanal diamond mining activity in the community contributes to deforestation which is leaving the residents homes vulnerable to wind damage.
What intervention has been made?
The windstorm disaster attracted support from two individuals, Mustapha Waritay, a congressperson representing Gbarma and Kongba Districts, all Gbarpolu County, in the house of Representative, and Botoe Kanneh, a senator representing Gbarpolu County. Both individuals jointly contributed twenty-five bags of rice, two hundred bundles of zinc (a material for a roof) with some wire and zinc nails; they also donated 2 power saws to the community for them to be able to saw planks to repair their damaged homes. These items except from the power saws, were distributed to the windstorm victims according to the level of damage done to each home. As Diamonds for Peace (DFP) field staff observed in early May 2024, most of the victims have been able to re-roof their buildings using the donated zinc and nails. Despite having little to no income due to not working, they have been able to use the rice that was donated to feed their families whilst they are repairing the damage caused by the windstorm. Although the victims have been able re-roof their damaged buildings, some of them, especially the ones who experienced huge damage to their homes, still need to repair their broken ceilings and replace their personal belongings which got damaged.
Conclusion
Windstorms and other natural disasters will always occur considering they are natural, and man cannot stop them. What is more important is how man prepares to prevent the damages that are usually associated with these natural disasters when they occur. In the case of Weasua, the residents can prevent recurrence if they consider growing more domestic trees near their homes, and also minimize the cutting down of the forest trees which should serve as windbreaker. They need to prioritize helping themselves in every way possible; although they are poor and cannot afford much, they have huge access to the forest from which they can get wood to reinforce the roof of their buildings.
Front Photo: One of the cooperative members’ houses in Weasua completely left roofless as the result of the windstorm (c) Diamonds for Peace