Water levels in Lethem and other sections of the Rupununi remained constant yesterday and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) has been activated to assist communities that have been hit by floods over the past few days.
Utility services, including water and electricity in Lethem, are being affected and residents yesterday lamented that the authorities may not have learnt much from last year’s devastating floods.
Director General of the CDC, Colonel (rtd) Chabilall Ramsarup told Stabroek News that agency officials are on the ground in Region 9 assessing the situation. He said the CDC is also making the necessary preparations in the event the region experiences a repeat of last year’s floods.
The situation is not alarming “as yet,” since it is early in the rainy season and based on reports he received yesterday morning, the water level in and around the region had receded by some 4 inches, Ramsarup said. The CDC Chief said he was in touch with the four sub-committees of the region’s Disaster Preparedness Committee (DPC) throughout the day as the situation is being monitored. The committee was activated on Wednesday when the waters rose sharply in Lethem and the surrounding areas.
Ramsarup said that so far four families were relocated from their homes to a shelter, as rising waters flooded their homes. He said that what is worrisome is that the situation across the border in neighbouring Brazil has deteriorated to a dreadful state and so far about nine deaths have been recorded. He said that a total of 100,000 persons were moved from their homes as the waters of the main rivers in the state of Manaus have overtopped within the past two weeks.
Since the rivers across the border, including the Rio Branco and the Rio Negro which drain into the Amazon are also connected to Region Nine’s Takutu River and Ireng River, there is the likelihood of the waters backing up and this has consequences for the Rupununi area.
In terms of health, the CDC Head said that so far he has not received any reports of flood-related illnesses. He said the CDC is ready to assist the region with potable water, since, according to him, the wells in the Lethem area will have to be turned off if the situation persists.
Meanwhile, South Rupununi communities remain cut off from Lethem as the flood waters in those areas were backed up yesterday. Reports are that the humanitarian and developmental group, Remote Area Medical (RAM) which is based in Lethem, is at the moment providing critical air transport linkages between Central Rupununi and the remote communities. According to the organisation’s social website page, the creeks which are linked to the Takutu River have overtopped, flooding the land while cutting off road access to several communities.
According to satellite imagery on the website of the Hydromet Office yesterday, moderate to intense conditions have been forecast heading west to south west across Guyana as the neighbouring state of Roraima in Brazil is expected to experience persistent rainfall over the next few days. Yesterday, this newspaper was told that Lethem and several outlying communities experienced bright sunshine while the rains continued in other areas.
However, Stabroek News understands that the Lethem Power Company is low on fuel. A source in the region said that the company has less than a week’s supply left. As a result, a load-shedding exercise was expected to take effect at midnight last night, resulting in sections of the community receiving power only for a 12-hour period. A resident told this newspaper yesterday that several trucks which transport fuel to the region have been stuck along the trail.
Upset residents said that since the rains were expected, the authorities ought to have made preparations to have fuel stored for the long haul. “This thing happening over and over each year and like still the people managing this region don’t learn nothing,” a Central Lethem businessman told Stabroek News.
Meantime, the road linking the region to the coast had been deteriorating at several parts, mainly between the Essequibo River crossing at Kurupukari and the Mabura police station, while sections of the roadway closer to Lethem were covered with water.
According to an official at a bus service in the city, the minibuses are experiencing grave difficulties traversing between the two locations north of the crossing.
He said that an 80-mile stretch of road between the crossing and the Mabura police station has been deteriorating within the past several weeks, “especially in the area called Chinee Man road”. He said that closer to Lethem, the roads are covered by water from the highlands in the Rupununi area following the continuous rainfall. As the weeks progress, the roads may become impassable, he said.
The man noted that during dry weather conditions, the buses took approximately 12 hours to travel between Lethem and the coast, but within the past two weeks the trips have been taking as long as 20 hours.
On Thursday, Local Government Minister, Ganga Persaud, told the National Assembly that the police, the army, Red Cross, Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and the Lethem Power Company are participating in the DPC to assist those affected by the floods. He said an office was established at a guesthouse in Lethem for its monitoring and evaluating work.
Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, told the House that the Hydromet Office is predicting that the next three months are expected to be very wet.
He noted that the overall rainfall averages are expected to be normal for this period, although some areas would see higher amounts of rainfall. In May, it is predicted that there will be just over 275 millimeters of rain, although regions Six and Ten have already experienced rainfall that exceeded the average.
