Heavy rains yesterday flooded Georgetown and many villages along the East Coast Demerara (ECD) catching residents by surprise as the drainage system struggled to cope.
Among the communities severely affected were Better Hope and Mon Repos where floodwaters were at high levels even though the kokers were opened and some of the pumps were in full operation. Residents hurried to pack and save their belongings. Some residents who live in ground-level flats told Stabroek News that they woke and found their beds surrounded by water even as some of the items in their homes were floating.
In the villages visited by Stabroek News, residents expressed concern at the poor drainage system while others blamed the authorities for not doing their jobs properly.
A resident of the Campbellville Housing Scheme related that when she woke at around 8am yesterday, she was shocked to see the road in front of her residence, and her yard, flooded. A side street was impassable, she said, recalling that the water there was about knee high while the water in the backyard was almost to the door.
According to the resident, the floodwater had also made its way into the front of the house. By lunchtime, the water in the yard had receded but the side street was still badly flooded. The woman said that other persons’ homes were flooded too.
For some residents in the East Coast villages, the flooding was not strange but for many, yesterday’s flood was reminiscent of the 2005 Great Flood.
Dropatee Sanichar, an elderly resident who has resided in Better Hope North for over 52 years, related that when she woke, she discovered that her house and the entire area was flooded. Sanichar who said that she is diabetic, noted that this is not the first flood she has experienced but it is one of the worst, probably the second worst after the 2005 flood.
The woman said that although she is not well and is currently on medication, she had to save all that she possibly could. Among her losses, Sanichar related, were her freezer, mattress, chair set and plants from her garden.
The residents expressed dissatisfaction that no government official visited.
Fifty-eight-year-old Shereen Mohamed, another resident of Better Hope North, has been bedridden for about two weeks after she fell and broke her hip. After undergoing surgery, she is recuperating and when Stabroek News visited yesterday, she was lying on her bed in a ground floor apartment surrounded by water. The floodwater makes it hard for her caretaker to get to her on her bed and for her children who visit, to move her about like they normally do on afternoons.
Mohamed’s son Anil Budhan, with tears in his eyes, explained that the flood has cost him a lot and he called on the authorities to step forward and assist those who sustained damage and losses.
According to a pump attendant stationed at Montrose, the station has five pumps, one of which was taken away to Enmore for repairs and two of the remaining four had been working. One of the non-functional pumps was out of order for almost one month and the other for a few days but with the two that are in full operation, the team has been trying the best they could to pump out water, he said.
Pump operator Troy McGarrel who is stationed at the Beterverwagting/ Triumph pump station, informed Stabroek News that the equipment was in full
operation since 8am yesterday. He noted that the pump works with the tide and improvements will be seen once the rain stops.
In Mon Repos, shopkeeper Bibi Mohamed, who was preparing for a religious function said that she woke up to disaster and disappointment. The woman related that her shop had been flooded but by mid-day the water had receded. She was thankful that the water did not get into the bottom flat of her house although it filled the yard. Mohamed said that while she has to think of ways of recouping her losses, she also has to come up with ideas so that she can still perform her planned function today. The poor drainage resulted in the flood after the heavy downpours, she said.
Traffic along the East Coast Highway from Sheriff Street to Ogle had to be directed by police officers since the northern side of the road was filled with water and the traffic in both directions was limited to one side of the double lane road. However, as the day progressed, the water started to gradually
subside. Joice Emil, a single parent with three children, one of who is handicapped and another who currently has a broken hand, told Stabroek News that out of the little she had in her small home, she was forced to dump a lot since when she woke up yesterday morning, the entire house was flooded. The woman is pleading for assistance since she has nowhere to go.
As the floodwaters slowly began to recede during the course of yesterday, garbage and other forms of debris surfaced along the roadways.
Neranjanie Jotila, a resident of Lusignan was seen bailing water from her home with the help of her son. The woman said that she suffered approximately
$500,000 in losses including household appliances. Jotila said that there should be a new plan from the newly-elected government to maintain the drainage system, since for her, poor drainage was the reason many suffered from the flood.
