By Amadu Wurie Timbo
Just when many residents thought the worst was behind them, a two-hour heavy downpour on Friday, 14 August 2026, reopened painful memories across Makeni Municipality as flash floods once again swept through communities, inundating homes and leaving families counting fresh losses.
Communities including Lunsar/Mabanta Road, Macrobert Street, Magburaka Road, Moses Conteh Street and Lane, Yiks Road, Father/Sanda Street, Gada Street, Bintu Street, Renka, Frontier Road, Wusum Lane, Yedi Lane and Ropolon were among the hardest hit. Floodwaters entered homes, damaged household property and disrupted livelihoods.
Yusif Kamara, popularly known as Nash P, a member of the Makeni Artists Union and the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, was among those affected by the flooding.
Kamara described the scene as heartbreakingly familiar, recalling last year’s devastating floods that ravaged his community of Ropolon and other low-lying neighbourhoods. The recurring flooding has once again highlighted Makeni’s vulnerability to heavy rainfall.
“This is becoming a nightmare we relive every rainy season,” Kamara said while salvaging soaked belongings from his home. “We are tired of rebuilding our lives after every heavy rain.”
The latest flash floods have renewed calls for urgent action to improve drainage systems, protect wetlands and natural waterways, and enforce proper urban planning to reduce the impact of recurring floods.
With the rainy season still ongoing, many affected families now face each dark cloud with fear, hoping the next heavy rainfall will not bring another wave of destruction.
For the people of Makeni, the floodwaters may eventually recede, but the emotional scars and repeated losses continue to deepen.