Describing the flooding disaster as the worst in the community’s history, the Toshao of Moraikobai, Derrick John yesterday said that they are once again expecting the water to rise despite it having significantly receded over the last few days.
According to John, Moraikobai in Region Five and its two satellite villages have been inundated for more than three weeks, adding that while floodwaters had receded significantly, they are expecting levels to once again increase after experiencing heavy downpours beginning on Wednesday and continuing until last night.
Almost every household in the Indigenous community has been affected by the severe flooding caused by continuous rainfall and the overtopping of the Mahaicony River which left both of its satellite villages inaccessible. He said the three communities are connected by a road which has been submerged since the flooding started, making it impossible for persons to traverse back and forth for supplies.
He said they have been making use of a boat to transport persons and distribute potable water.
Based on assessments done by the Village Council, John said, that approximately 1,200 to 1,500 residents have been affected by the flooding with 200 households feeling the full brunt of the disaster.
“We have never seen water levels so high,” he commented. He went on to disclose that the community has not experienced flooding since 2005 but even that could not compare to the level of destruction the community faced during the flooding this year.
“The last time we had flooding was in 2005, but this year is way worse. In 2005 it lasted for a couple of days but this year it has been three weeks,” John pointed out.
Despite their houses being affected, especially the bottom flats being completely inundated, many persons have refused to move and prefer to stay in the top flats of their home. He said that the water reached around eight feet high in some instances but many of the houses are built on stilts so persons opted to stay in their homes.
“But it was really scary. Nobody has seen this before and we were scared. We could not move from our homes and could only watch as water kept rising,” he recalled.
However, according to John, the full impact is being felt food-wise as all the crops in the farms and gardens have been completely destroyed. Poultry was also devastated but some persons were able to move the birds to shelters. This has resulted in almost everyone now depending on the relief supplies that have been donated to the community but this is not expected to last very long especially considering that the rains have restarted.
He noted that there is nothing that residents can do because even if they replanted now, it would take weeks before they can reap their crops. John said he is hoping that more hampers are distributed to the community soon as they brace for another round of flooding. Other than food supplies, he said the community is desperately in need of potable water. He noted that many get their drinking and cooking water from the river and this has been contaminated, so water is one of the community’s critical needs.
“It will take a lot of time to recover from this,” he iterated.
