Spring tides yesterday battered the door of a koker at Stewartville, Region Three and posed a threat of major flooding in neighbouring communities. However as the tide fell the water that had accumulated on the land quickly began to recede.
Up to press time last night, GuySuCo workers were carrying out emergency works to install a temporary koker to prevent flooding from recurring during the next tide which is scheduled for 05:14 this morning at a height of 3.01 meters.
Just around 5pm yesterday, residents of Stewartville, West Coast Demerara said they observed the water levels in the drains and trenches rising rapidly. It was upon inspection, one resident said, that he learnt that the koker door had broken away.
Some yards as a result, began to flood and residents said they had to take every precaution to prevent damage to property.
“All I hear was bram! And then I hear people on the road saying the koker door break way. Within seconds you could have seen how this water raising and overflowing from the trench,” Evadne, a resident of Stewartville related.
The woman said she had to move around some of her furniture in a bid to avert water damage. When Stabroek News visited the area last night hundreds of residents from Uitvlugt and Stewartville had congregated on the public road and looked on as the water level rose.
“There is nothing else we can do. This is Mother Nature and we have to accept what is happening here,” a Uitvlugt resident told this publication. He explained that he lives on the southern end of the village but he became concerned after noticing the water levels in the drains rising. “I came out on the road to check [to] see what was happening because the water was getting high in the drains. When I came out I hear the koker door break,” the man said.
Another woman who asked not to be named said, “This water was just gushing, you should have been here to see it. It just gushing and coming with a speed. I had to lift up my chair and so because I didn’t know if it would have come in my house,” she said.
The woman noted that she too like other residents mounted her furniture on blocks and hoped that today’s tides would not unduly affect her.
Agriculture Manager of the Uitvlugt Estate, Naresh Narine, last night told Stabroek News that they responded immediately after learning of the koker door being damaged.
He told this newspaper that they were working to install a temporary koker door to prevent water from rushing onto the lands at the next tide. Based on his estimation the emergency works should have concluded around midnight last night, at least three hours before the commencement of the next high tide.
Last night on the site, residents inspected the works of the GuySuCo workers as they sprang into action and constructed the temporary door using planks.
Remedial work on the original sluice door is likely to commence during the course of today.
Several yards in Stewartville were said to be under water last night but residents said that was as a result of the high tides on Monday afternoon.
Last night, Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig in a Facebook post said communities in Region Three such as Den Amstel, Hague Jib, Anna Catherina, Stewartville, Uitvlugt and Parika were once again affected by overtopping.
He noted that strong and consistent waves resulted in damage to the koker in Stewartville and residents residing close to the sea shore were affected. However as the tide fell, water receded from the lands.
Residents of Uitvlugt told Stabroek News that the overtopping effects were minimal yesterday. However, they stressed that the waves on Monday were threatening as they came with a force and quickly flooded their yards. They noted that the street and yards were covered with water during the tides.
Sadaar, an Ocean View, Uitvlugt resident who lives a few feet away from the ocean said his fence was knocked down after the first wave crashed over the seawall. He noted that water level in his house on Monday was above his knees. Nonetheless, he stated that he did not suffer any other damage to his house.
Sharda Lall, another resident of Ocean View Uitvlugt who resides in a single flat concrete house said the waves that crashed over the seawall were higher than her house and on several occasions, waves landed on her roof.
“It was really bad yesterday [Monday], today we had some flooding but yesterday [Monday] we didn’t know where was the trench and where was the dam – everything in one,” she explained.
Like her other neighbours, Lall said that they were fortunate that the water did not creep into their homes but stayed in the yard.
She told this newspaper that they remain optimistic that the tides from today onward would be less devastating since it is the last day of the spring tide.
Uitvlugt residents also lamented that the Neighbourhood Democratic Council of Uitvlugt-Tuschen failed to provide any sort of assistance to affected residents. They noted that critical drains in the community need to be cleared and that has not been done.
High tide levels in the afternoon are expected to be at 5.32 pm at a height of 3.12 meters.
Over the last four days high tides have battered villages across Regions Three and Five significantly. Despite published advisory and precautionary measures, residents in the coastal villages were impacted by major flooding.
The CDC has since embarked on the distribution of hygiene and sanitation hampers to assist residents with the cleaning-up in affected areas.
The CDC has stated that breaches in sea defence and overtopping of waves can be reported to them on the 24-hour National Emergency Monitoring System (NEMS) on 623-1700, 600-5700 or 226-1114.a
