Emergency teams continued search, rescue and damage assessments across Freetown on Tuesday after hours of torrential rain flooded homes, tore through roads and triggered slope collapses across the Sierra Leonean capital.

Homes were submerged in muddy water, streets turned into rivers and residents waded through the floods as they tried to recover their belongings.

In Portor Community, Juba, flood victim Hawa Sesay described waking at around 03:00 in the morning as water swept through the neighbourhood.

"The flooding happened last night, around 3:00 AM. Items like beds, televisions, clothes, and people's rice were greatly affected. Yesterday was not easy for us."

Sesay blamed the repeated flooding on inadequate drainage.

"We want the gutters to be fixed, because all this happens as a result of the gutters. When the water comes heavily, it returns back to its source because it doesn't have enough passage routes to go over to the sea, so it takes over every part of the community."

Portor Community Chief Mohamed Bangura said blocked infrastructure had turned heavy rain into a recurring threat.

"Every year, around September or October, flooding used to happen. But the main issue that is affecting us is the bridge in the community that gets blocked most times, so it leads to flooding."

The National Disaster Management Agency said more than 300 homes were flooded in the Portor community, displacing hundreds of residents. Two children were reported missing, while eight boreholes used by the community were contaminated and declared unsafe.

Across Freetown, three people were reportedly killed when a compound wall collapsed in the Metchem community. The victims were a five-year-old girl, her mother and her grandmother.

The rain lasted for around six to seven hours during the early hours of Monday, triggering flash floods, severe erosion and slope collapses in low-lying and hillside communities. The NDMA activated its Situation Room and deployed teams to affected areas as search operations and preliminary assessments continued.