Fuveme: Before and after the destructive tidal waves

On November 5, 2021, tidal waves pounded the shores of the Volta Region, reportedly leaving thousands of homes submerged and residents homeless.

But the danger has been announcing itself for years.

In Fuveme, one of the communities The Fourth Estate visited in July 2021, the doom was predictable. A school that was rebuilt after it was destroyed faced a second destruction by the tidal waves.

The school bracing for a second disappearance under the sea

When this reporter visited Fuveme in 2016, the community pleaded for the umpteenth time their need for a sea defence wall.

It has not been built. The 2.8-kilometre Atorkor sea defence project was expected to cushion some coastal communities in the then Keta Municipality (now Anloga District) against destructive tidal waves. But the construction didn’t progress beyond Akplorwotorkor.

It meant Fuveme was left exposed. Over the years, the waves have pounded the village (Fuveme), causing extensive damage to property, sometimes cutting the inhabitants off from the rest of the district.

A large section of the fishing community has been reduced to a pile of rubble as the advancing tidal waves turbocharged by climate change continue to inch closer. It created a new estuary in May 2021.

According to experts, rising sea levels linked to the melting of polar ice caps due to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is causing coastal erosion.

So, the Fuveme RC Basic School became a victim of an imperial ocean claiming territories. It is an occurrence climate change experts blame on human activities such as sand winning and deforestation as well as natural causes such as wind, water.

Interestingly, the communities behind the sea defence wall in parts of Keta, Atorkor, Akplorwotorkor and Agavedzi– were left untouched.