Persistent overnight rainfall on Sunday continued into yesterday, leaving the city and a number of villages along the East Coast Demerara under several inches of water.
A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday said in excess of eight inches of rainfall had been recorded in Georgetown and outlying areas over a 72-hour period. It advised that persons who are unable to occupy their homes contact the Civil Defence Commission (CDC).
The statement noted that President Bharrat Jagdeo, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Kellawan Lall and Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn were assessing the situation on the ground. “Our drainage system is functioning and 24 hours surveillance is being conducted to ensure maximum drainage. We recognise that some homes of the city and outlying areas may have accumulated water,” the statement said. Persons who cannot occupy their homes because of the excess rainfall can contact the CDC on telephone numbers 226 -8815, 226-1114 and 226- 1117.
According to the Hydromet Department of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), cloudy to overcast conditions with rain showers and possible intermittent rain were expected to prevail last evening. Today, mainly cloudy conditions with rain and intermittent rain can be expected along coastal and near inland locations, while on Wednesday partly cloudy to cloudy conditions with showers can be expected mostly along coastal locations. For Thursday and the remainder of the week, partly cloudy conditions with periods of cloudiness and isolated showers can be expected along coastal and near inland areas.
According to the Hydro-met Office, in Guyana local climatology indicates that the month of February is expected to have an average of 10 rain days (rainfall greater than 1mm). Guyana is currently in a transitional period into the dry season but because of La Niña conditions, brief, heavy showers, light continuous rain and afternoon outbursts of thunder will be experienced, the agency stated.
In addition, most forecast models have predicted La Niña to continue at least through the first quarter of 2011. As a result, wetter than average conditions are likely to continue to prevail over Guyana for most locations.
Meanwhile, several areas within the city remained under water last evening following yesterday’s rainfall. According to the Hydromet Office, yesterday’s rainfall was a continuation from the night before and the long-term daily average predicted rainfall for Georgetown over the next 10 days is 3.6mm for each day.
In South Ruimveldt Park, several residents watched in dismay as the rains poured for most of the day, leaving many streets and yards in the poorly drained area inundated. Residents of Gaulding Place told this newspaper that each time the community experiences as little as one-hour of rainfall, the streets within the area would flood. They noted that several weeks ago the city council had cleaned the main drainage areas there but water continued to accumulate at various sections within the community. A few homes in the area, including some in Baramita Street, were flooded during the day and a resident noted last evening that she has had to “bail the bottom flat of my house since when I come home from work.” She said that as much as 10 inches of water accumulated at the bottom of her home during the day and the water level rose as night stepped in.
Several parts of East Ruimveldt, including Pineapple Street, were also under water late last evening, and residents there said the community was swamped by the rainfall during the morning hours.
Fearing the worst
Along the East Coast Demerara, areas which would usually flood during heavy rainfall remained under water last evening and residents in several communities feared the worst. Some said that if the rains continued over the next two days, they may have to relocate from their respective homes.
At Dazzell Housing Scheme, a community which is prone to flooding based on its location within a basin, Orris Simon, a father of two, told Stabroek News that the waters were rising in the area late yesterday afternoon even though the rains had eased. He said the area was in dire need of proper drainage—a “cry,” which according to him, residents had been making ever since the 2005 Great Flood. He said the koker would be opened around midday to allow the floodwater to be drained off of the land but it would be closed later in the day whenever the tide in the nearby waterways changed.
Simon noted that the community’s location within the basin “would tell anyone that it would call for good drainage during times like this.” He said that the area would usually rely on a main drainage trench located at the north eastern section of the community in order to be to be drained, but the trench had been overtaken with vegetation recently. He noted too that a pump is usually set in motion close to the old regional administration building at nearby Paradise village but it was moved to other locations along the coast recently.
Another resident said that the community would be infested with snakes and other reptiles whenever it is flooded and yesterday was no exception. She said that the waters rose almost to the floor of her flat concrete home and she was bracing herself for additional rainfall forecast over the next few days.
At Main Street, Strathspey, Ramo (only name given) told Stabroek News that the water level around her home was receding gradually yesterday afternoon. However, she noted that several plots of cabbage and other cash crops, which she was preparing to sell within the community, were destroyed in the morning by the floodwaters. She said that community was in need of “proper and better” drainage, since it was noted that persistent rainfall within a 24-hour period was a “simple” test of the area’s drainage system. The woman noted too that several persons in the area had lost livestock during yesterday’s rainfall.
Residents at Good Hope and Lusignan told this newspaper that their communities had been under water for most of the day as it rained but the water did not enter their homes. A resident of Good Hope said the water level remained close to his doorstep but he noted that when the kokers at the seaside were opened during the night, the water was expected to be drained from the community.
Meantime, sessions at several schools were disrupted during yesterday’s rainfall. In the city several schools were forced to hold double sessions as a result of the rains. In Berbice, class sessions of the Blairmont Nursery and Primary schools were disrupted after sections of Blairmont Settlement, West Bank Berbice were flooded during the day.
A few parents who live nearby told Stabroek News that they “could not see the school bridge.” They said the water started to come in slowly from around 5:30 am and receded a little after the sluice was opened around 9 am.
At about 2 pm, residents said the water was still in their yards. Some persons said their kitchens were flooded and they had to “bail out the water.”A woman told this newspaper that she managed to lift her furniture, electrical appliances and other items to safety before her kitchen was submerged. “This is the first time in history that this area was flooded so much,” one resident said, while adding that water from the canal flowed across the street and into the residential areas.
Some residents have suffered losses of their produce; their cash crop farms were under water and while others lost livestock.
