Residents of several West Coast Demerara (WCD) villages were forced to flee their homes as high tides early yesterday morning overtopped the seawall, flooding houses, and leaving many counting their losses.
According to Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Director-General, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, at least 240 homes located near the seawall at Den Amstel, Blankenburg, Fellow-ship, Cornelia Ida, Anna Catherina, Uitvlugt and Zeelugt, were affected by flooding caused by the extremely high waves. The villages are all located on the WCD.
Several other areas along the coast were reported to be affected as well with the highest tides expected to be today at 4.38 pm at a height of 3.36 metres and tomorrow at 5.18 pm at a height of 3.32 metres.
Many West Demerara residents in the affected areas informed the Sunday Stabroek that upon realising what was going on, they immediately vacated their homes. Some went to seek shelter at the bus sheds on the main road while others opted for higher grounds closer to their homes. For those living in the upper flat of their buildings, the flooding was merely an inconvenience and some indicated that their only issue was getting in and out of their homes during the day and driving their cars to higher grounds when the place started to flood.
However, many residents said that most of their electrical appliances including washing machines, laptops, DVD players and freezers were damaged during the flood, which lasted for several hours before the water receded. Water levels were as high as one foot.
Some residents of Anna Catherina said that they woke up to rushing waters and immediately relocated to higher grounds. Afterwards, they contacted the Neighbourhood Democratic Council, and officials responded promptly and tried their best to help them.
Residents were made aware of the flooding sometime around 3 am yesterday morning. Everton Daly, a Den Amstel resident who lives one house away from the seawall, told the Sunday Stabroek that he woke up at around 2.30 am and heard rumbling at the seawall.
“It sounded like the boulders in front of the wall were moving around which was probably cause of the strength of the water. A heavy breeze start blow and rain start falling so I went back to bed. Then around 3 am all me hear is that construction guy [Kuss Lall] shouting, ‘Y’all come out the house! Y’all come out the house and see what happening’ and when I looked outside, I see the water rushing over the wall. We thought it (the seawall) break but was not that,” Daly said.
‘Like Kaieteur Falls’
Further, he said, not 15 minutes had passed before nearby houses were flooded and the night became alive with voices and movements. “For three hours, the seawall look like Kaieteur Falls. The water just keep flowing and flowing,” Daly recounted. He added that while residents are used to “a little” flooding, this is the first time during his 19 years of living in the area, that they have experienced this magnitude of flooding caused by overtopping. Daly said while nothing in his home was damaged, the incident spoiled his birthday plans.
Meanwhile, in Fellowship, minutes before 3 am, Kuss Lall and his construction crew were asleep in their camp when Lall woke up to a half-soaked bed and flooded camp. Lall said he immediately alerted his crew, who began vacating the camp house. He called his employer to alert him about the flooding, when he tripped and fell and lost his phone. This, however, did not deter Lall, as he directed his crew to start alerting persons in the surrounding area. While the crew, who work for the GR and GS Construction company did not suffer any losses, Lall said that the flooding will postpone their work for weeks.
Lall indicated that he has been directed by his employer to assist the affected communities and they have since donated over 100 bags of sand to the Sea Defence Department, which distributed them to affected homes. “If anybody needs assistance, they can contact us and we will help with fuel, machinery, sand, whatever,” Lall added.
George Anthony of Den Amstel said he woke up at 3 am and noticed suitcases and other items floating around in his house. He alerted his family members who immediately tried saving whatever they could as the water continued to rise. However, their documents and other electrical appliances were damaged before they woke up.
“Suitcases were floating when we woke up. Everything in the house was floating, all the chairs them and the water was flowing heavy. There was nothing we could have done,” the father of two lamented. He revealed that the water started to recede at 8 am yesterday. When the Sunday Stabroek spoke to Anthony, he was in the process of preparing for the next high tide, which was slated for later yesterday afternoon.
‘Earthquake’
A resident of Cornelia Ida, who wished not to be named, said that as the high tides pounded the seawall, his house began shaking. He said that his first thought was that an earthquake was occurring in another country. However, he soon noticed water seeping into his home and rushed to evacuate his two small children and disabled wife. He said that by the time he evacuated the last child, who is four years old, the water was knee-deep.
Blankenburg resident Davion Mars, meantime, told the Sunday Stabroek that he woke up around 3 am to the sounds of car horns and people shouting. “I was wondering what was going on and when I came out, I noticed the water rushing in with a force and it was knee-high and we just picked up what we could at that time and we tried to leave ‘cause we didn’t know what was happening at that time. We went to the bus shed and by the time we went there, the water was going down and some guys came and they burst the dam and the water drained into the trench,” he said.
Mars added that the water remained at the same level for three hours and his family was thinking about spending the night in Georgetown. However, Mars later disclosed that they decided to stay in Blankenburg as the high tide, which occurred around 4 pm yesterday afternoon, did not cause any floods.
“The CDC came and brought relief aid and there was some work and monitoring done at the seawalls. Whatever they did seemed to be effective because we did not experience any more flooding for the afternoon,” he said.
Meanwhile, an employee of the Sea Defence Department said that they have been distributing sand bags to residents who were affected by the flooding. He added that they have cleaned the trenches and drains and “fixed” the seawalls in preparation for the coming high tides.
Craig also informed the Sunday Stabroek that the CDC has identified the most severely affected areas on the West Demerara and have distributed cleaning supplies to those residents. In addition, he said, the CDC is working alongside the Sea Defence Department and the Regional Democratic Council to ensure that residents prepare and clean up their homes as quickly as possible.
