Floodwater was still receding from the city last evening after a heavy overnight downpour that left some areas like flood-prone Albouystown swamped and some storeowners bailing water from their businesses.
Outside the city, at Diamond Housing Scheme and Golden Grove, on the East Bank of Demerara, several households were also under floodwater and hapless residents struggled to cope.
The rain began Wednesday afternoon and progressed throughout the night until yesterday morning.
However, as water receded Central Georgetown was bustling with activity, although it included post-flood cleaning and sanitizing for some businesses.
Although open, a few business places on Regent Street and Wellington Street saw employees still bailing water from their premises.
The Bourda Market was also severely hit by the flood but although many of the stallholders complained of damage, they withstood the cold and dampness and continued to sell. However, the market was closed before noon and by evening many of the vendors left.
While many in the city were grateful that the water receded swiftly, most of the residents of Albouystown were not that fortunate as they had to endure yet another day of water inundating their homes and destroying furniture, electrical appliances and other property.
Adding to the misery was having to deal with the stress of the aftermath of the flooding.
Residents called on the authorities to address their plight as they said that the situation can no longer be tolerated. “They really need to do something about this flooding in this place; is every time the rain fall, we place flood. We fed up with this thing man. You know is how much losses we getting every time the place flood and the children them getting sick? It really, really stressful man,” a mother lamented.
‘It is just horrible’
At Golden Grove Housing Scheme many of the residents were also battling with flooded yards and homes, some of which saw the water rise to almost one foot in height.
Since sections of the area are not prone to flooding, many were caught off guard, with the unexpected rise in the water.
At her home, Juliet Bobb-Semple sat in her wheel chair, with folded arms, encircled with water up to her shin. Her feet looked cramped and whitish from hours of saturation.
She was an employee at the Office of the President who was accidentally shot by a police in 2009. The officer was in hot pursuit of a man on Hadfield Street when Bobb-Semple was shot.
Bobb-Semple’s relatives could do nothing to remove the woman from the water as there was nowhere dry to place her. “Weh we gon put she?” a relative questioned, as she invited a look into the flooded bedroom. “It is just horrible. We ain’ got no other way… there is nothing that we can do right now,” the relative added.
At Lot 227 Section ‘C’ Block ‘Y’ Golden Grove, water was about three inches high in the apartments of the tenants but no major damage was incurred. The landlord, who resides in the upper flat of the building, said that it was the first time that floodwater reached that height in the building.
Brans Douglas said that the last time his house was flooded was 2005.
This time around, he suffered no loss, since the water did not reach inside his house.
Amanda, a grocer at Golden Grove Housing Scheme, was awakened to a flooded house and shop at about 3AM yesterday.
Workers were quickly deployed to remove goods to safety and sand bags were heaped at the entrances of the building, while efforts were made to bail water from the house in an effort to avoid further loss and damage.
Her furniture was already soaked while two music speakers and a television set were also damaged before they could have been lifted to safety. In Amanda’s grocery, she also lost a few bags of rice and potatoes.
At another Street in Golden Grove, Rafeek Mohamed was still trying to come to grips with the floodwater inundating his house yesterday morning.
He and others busied themselves emptying the water from the house and blocking doorways.
Mohamed said that it was the first time his house was flooded.
Anil’s Workshop was closed as the entire yard was immersed and much of the equipment used in the workshop was covered in the water. Some workers who travelled from the East Coast of Demerara had no choice but to return home, since they met the flooded yard upon arriving at work.
Also in a state of despair was Miss James, whose house is the home to nine persons. James stood in her flooded house looking through her door as she wondered about her next move, since the water outside her house was the same height as the water inside, with minimal sign that it was receding.
She said that her house was flooded previously and she was waiting on the water to drop so that she could begin bailing it from inside the house.
James believed that the flood was as a result of the clogged drains with overgrown weeds, coupled with culverts in the area that were without shutters for the past ten years.
The woman also suffered major damage to furniture and other household and electrical appliance as did many others.
Two sluices serving the Golden Grove/Diamond area were opened and there was a heavy outflow of water at the time of this newspaper’s visit, since the tide was low.
Although the outfall facilitating one of the sluices needed dredging, since there were old planks blocking the free flow of water, Vinood Satnoo, one of the attendants, was confident that the sluices were functioning effectively. He said the high water level was as a result of the excessive rain.
The doors for the sluices were lifted at 6AM yesterday and were scheduled to be closed at 1:30PM.
Meanwhile, water was also gushing from the sluice at River View. The attendant stationed there said that the pump installed at the area operated last evening when the tide was high.
Upon the falling of the tide, the door for the sluice was opened, while the pump was put to rest. The pump will be in full operation again when the door is closed, the attendant said. (Photos by Keno George)
