The Head of Sea and River Defences, Geoffrey Vaughn was relieved yesterday that the precautionary steps taken to alleviate potential flooding and overtopping from high tides were not actually necessary.
He said that “there was no problem, no situation and we are grateful”. Vaughn told Stabroek News that “there was no low pressure system, but the spring tides reached the 3.21 meters (yesterday morning), but just no low pressure system to push the water.” Yesterday’s high tide was the highest predicted for this round of spring tides and given the serious overtopping in April there was great anxiety over what would happen.
Vaughn said that the lack of multiple oceanic disturbances converging meant that there was no flooding from yesterday’s high tide. He said that “when we are dealing with the ocean anything is possible you have to keep in mind overnight something else can happen and the situation can change but by the time you heard about it the situation is different.”
He noted that the various weather systems that were being monitored had previously shown activity and this was the reason for last week’s public warning for persons living in low-lying areas.
The Sea and River Defence Head said that “we are constantly preparing and you don’t know what will happen. There are systems that we are looking at that nothing develops and we are happy”. He added that this was not always the case and the ministry once again utilized sandbags along the Rupert Craig Highway.
“We have to put the sandbags out and issue awareness because we’re showing you that things are being done,” Vaughn said. He further noted that the ministry has to be aware that even slight overtopping can become problematic because clogged drains along the Rupert Craig Highway and within the City of Georgetown compromise the flow of water. He said that “We know that the tides are going to give problems. We put sandbags there because it is a cautionary measure it is not a case that we don’t know what will happen, but we have to do things.”
Vaughn stated that during spring tides the ministry had to be cognisant that because of the severely compromised drainage systems in low-lying areas a small amount of water can cause severe residential damage.
He said that the temporary measures being taken by the ministry were the best options at the moment because more costly and permanent installations could not be moved to other areas to prevent flooding as easily as the sand bags.
Vaughn told Stabroek News that the ministry collects data on a daily basis from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the timeframe leading up to yesterday morning’s expected high tide showed that a low pressure system was developing which could have resulted in overtopping.
He noted that because of the compromised drainage, the Minister of Works, Robeson Benn has had several meetings with the Mayor and City Council to discuss the course of action.
“Our minister is not the type of person that waits to get it done so we end up cleaning a lot of the drains when the high tide season starts, Subryanville, Bel Air Park we clean those we have to and we can’t wait on the Mayor and City Council,” Vaughn stated.
He said that water constantly backing up in the system in the past has warranted the issuance of warnings because the public couldn’t be left susceptible.
