It might be hard to imagine living in a house with floodwater almost eight inches high for days on end but this has been the harsh reality for residents of villages along the Essequibo Coast for the past five days.
At Land of Plenty, Devika Persaud yesterday said she is at her wits end since the authorities seems to be dragging their feet.
“The government should assist us by giving us things to clean. It has been five days since the water is on the land and this morning [Tuesday] when I woke up, I observed that the water has moved a little, very, very slow. Whatever water is in here, we will have to take buckets and bail it because there is nowhere for this to pass out. Over the years we had so much flooding and I don’t believe that this is because of the heavy rainfall alone. This is because there is no proper drainage,” she told Stabroek News.
Persaud, a single parent who works as a security guard, says she would like to be compensated for her losses.
“I work hard to make my surroundings pleasant and beautiful and I’m wondering who will refund us for our losses. Who is going to help us? It is sad to know that we had a flood in the early part of December and imagine we are under water again. My heart goes out to residents of Queenstown and the other villages that are under water because we are all suffering. Where I never get flood is now covered with water. Just the other day I bought new furniture and all had to be left in the water because I had no place to put them. All the chair foot swell already because the water soak them. I am, however, thankful to God that the rain hold up or else the government would’ve have to find place for us to live,” she added, while emphasising that flood-affected residents should be compensated for their losses.
Meanwhile, at Lima, Laverne Hyman said she cried because she had met the end of her rope.
“When I wake up on Thursday morning, I step right into the water from my bed. I did not know that my house was filled with water. The koker is working and the pump is working so I do not know why the water is not going down. There is a trench behind here but it is filled with stuff so the water cannot pass out,” she explained.
Hyman related that water has filled her kitchen cupboard, which forced her to empty it. Just recently, she had raised the floor of her bedroom, owing to the fact that it was low. “It’s a lucky thing I raised my bedroom floor or I don’t know where I would have sleep in the nights. I tried bailing the water from my house but it doesn’t make sense because the yard is still flooded. I recently bought a washing machine and that is finished because it has been in the water for four days. I have three chair sets and it’s only on Sunday I had the chance to buy blocks and raise them. My chair set will all be damaged. I bought a whole roll of vinyl and when the water goes down I will have to throw it away. I have suffered tremendous losses and like I don’t know what else to do. Since I have been living here, I have never experienced a flood like this,” she added.
While residents have no other option but to endure the flooding, they are calling on authorities to provide sanitation to aid in the reduction of germs and bacteria from the floodwater.
