The wet season had come but having lived forty-nine years close to the banks of the Mazaruni River without a tale of flooding to tell her five children, this was not a concern for Christine George.
“The river water never overflows this far inland anyway,” she recalled thinking to herself as she secured her shop and home before putting her children to bed on the eve of June 2nd of this year, never once dreaming that she would wake to waist-high floodwaters a few hours later.
George is a resident of Kamarang, one of many indigenous communities in Region Seven located along the Mazaruni River that have been severely affected by the flooding. She also owns a shop in Kamarang.
Recounting her experience to Stabroek News, George said, “I woke up sometime after 2 am that morning. Water was everywhere in the house as high as my waist.” She disclosed that at that time, only her youngest child, who is seven years, was sleeping in the house with her so after it dawned on her what was happening she rushed to help him get out of the house.
“It was so unexpected. I born and grow here and nothing like this never happen before. Yes we does get heavy rainfall during the rainy season but the water never come so high yet so it was extra high and never come this far onto the land so it was just very surprising,” she said
With the already-high water levels increasing in her home, George said, she grabbed her child and led him out of the house to escape.
According to George, apart from her home, there are 16 other houses located along the Mazaruni riverbank in Kamarang. She recalled that it seemed as though everybody woke up around the same time so that must mean that there was a flash flooding.
In the pouring rain, the 17 families made their way to higher ground with nothing but the clothes on their backs. George said that they all gathered on a hill to figure out where they would spend the rest of the night.
Luckily, she said, almost everybody was related and those who were not affected offered to house the displaced families until the floodwater receded. It was from those houses they would witness waters from the ‘Mighty’ Mazaruni claim their homes and everything in it.
“After that day the water level rise and rise until it reach the roofs,” she said.
Today, George and her child are still living with their relative who took them in on the fateful day of June 2nd but says she is thankful for the support she has been receiving and for the relief items provided by the government.
She related that the water is slowly receding but many have opted not to move back into their homes because they were warned that more rain and flooding is possible.
According to George, all the items in her shop have been damaged. “I had restocked the day before so my shop was full. I lost all that,” she said. She estimates that she lost hundreds of dollars in items.
The flooding situation especially in the Middle and Upper Mazaruni riverine communities remains the same according to the Civil Defence Commission with more rains expected in the area. Region Seven has been described as a Level 3 disaster.
Having gone on a recent visit to these areas, Region Seven Vice Chairwoman Kamal Persaud related that the impact of the flooding is extremely devastating in the region.
“Water has covered farmland, buildings and (entire) mining landings and so forth. The devastation is unthinkable. Houses are covered to the top. Families had to relocate and are living in makeshift camps, losing everything that they own in their homes,” she described.
According to Persaud, the rivers have flowed 400 feet inland and to heights of around 14 feet. She related that residents have explained that they have never experienced this level of flooding and never thought that the rivers would flow so far inland. She stated that everyone is expecting that the water levels will continue to increase. She noted that hundreds of persons will need assistance once the flooding is over as many are counting millions in losses.
For many, she said, the flooding was unexpected as water quietly seeped into their homes during the wee hours of the morning. “They did not expect it to reach to those levels and the water rose so fast so as some residents explained at 3 am, they woke up and found water waist high in their homes,” she said.
