South Georgetown may very well be experiencing a wet Christmas as floodwaters, which had receded in central and north Georgetown lingered up to late yesterday afternoon.
The entire city had been waterlogged following Friday’s heavy rainfall. The rain, which started around 3 am on Friday and continued non-stop—alternating between downpours and showers—finally subsided into light drizzles at around 2 pm.
Thankfully for residents and businesses in central Georgetown the water began to recede on Friday evening.
However, this was not the case south of the city, particularly in Albouystown and South and North Ruimveldt, as the water continued to cover many yards and streets when Stabroek News visited yesterday.
With almost 6 inches of water covering streets in Albouystown, the differentiation between road and drain could not have easily been made.
Those who dared to navigate the flooded streets, did so with caution to avoid slipping into drains or potholes. This, however, did not stop some children from engaging in a game of watery football, while others peddled their bicycles through the streets causing waves.
Along Hill Street, Albouystown, a group of men used old barrels and a microwave to block vehicular traffic from passing through unless they left “a small thing,” forcing many vehicles to divert to other routes.
Residents of another street cordoned it off with old furniture to prevent vehicles from pushing more water into their bottom flats, as the stagnant water refused to recede.
One resident who spoke to Stabroek News, relayed her disappointment at the sudden flooding which she said, has put a damper on her Christmas spirit.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said though the flooring of her lower flat was raised as a counter measure to flooding in the area, it did not help this time around as the flood waters rose high enough to seep into the flat. This resulted not only in a water soaked carpet, but also loss of perishable groceries such as rice, that was stored in a bag on the ground.
The resident further noted that though Albouystown experiences minor flooding after heavy rainfall, she did not expect the situation to have reached such a magnitude. “When the rain start and I see the water rising I start thinking back to 2005 when we had the big flood and I prayed and prayed to God asking him to hold the rain from falling more because I didn’t want the water to come in the house,” the woman related.
“I just don’t know right now man. Maybe I would’ve felt less bad about the situation if it happen at a different time. Christmas is my favourite holiday. I put my all into this holiday and now the rain come and spoil it,” she added.
Meanwhile, in South and North Ruimveldt, the situation was slightly better as the floodwaters had receded somewhat. Some residents were seen disinfecting their yards that were previously covered by the flood waters.
Others, such as in the case of Samantha (only name given), watched from their flooded yards as water levels had receded only by an inch or two from Friday as evidenced by the marks on fences.
“It was high, but the water didn’t really get in[to the house]. When we realized that the water started seeping in, we placed some sand bags and that helped and we continued to monitor it throughout the night,” she said.
Asked if she has considered the possibility of the floodwaters surpassing the previous mark if rains continued as predicted over the next few days, Samantha said she was hoping that Friday’s rainfall does not reoccur.
“The water dropped from where it was yesterday right, but if the rain had continued we would have been damned but I am happy that it did stop,” she added.
“It will not affect my Christmas in anyway. I have all that I need in the house and I have no plans of leaving here in the morning.
“If anyone wants to see me they got to come and see me but I don’t think anyone would want to walk through our personal lake,” she joked.
While some drivers displayed their manoeuvring skills as they traversed the heavily flooded streets, others seemed to have thrown caution to the wind, speeding as they would normally do when the roads are dry. In some sections of North Ruimveldt yesterday, the fear of water seeping into the vehicle became a reality.
