Staff Reporter, Jenny Alphonso, reporting from the West Coast of Demerara, Guyana, South America.
West Coast residents are now breathing a sigh of relief after the forecasted high tides of 9 feet from the 12th to 14th of November failed to overtop the seawalls. Water levels did rise but not enough to exceed the height of the seawalls. For the houses closest to the seawalls, minor areas such as the backyard or side land had small amounts of water.
Some residents, who were officially preparing for another flooding, this afternoon happily removed their sandbags and blocks from their doorways and were able to safeguard their household equipment and appliances. They are also counting themselves fortunate that they won’t have to undergo another cleanup exercise as some, due to the last flooding, had to stay home from work or flex in their daily routine to get their homes back to a sanitized condition after an ordeal which caused many inconveniences.
Livestock and crop farmers were contented that their animals and produce would not be not affected as they had lost thousands of dollars in the last rise of the tide which overtopped the seawalls on the 28th of October. As a result of the last flooding along the West Bank of Demerara, livestock were killed due to the high levels of water and most were infected because of the water being contaminated. As for crop farmers, they had been unable to provide for their families for days. This was such because the crops were destroyed and farmers had no fruits nor vegetables to take to be sold at the market.
Government officials are still being called upon to take care of the drainage system on the West Coast. This will reduce flooding which will save persons, especially those living close to the seawall, from floods. It will also prevent damage to crops and livestock and will avoid many diseases that are a result of contaminated waters. A good working drainage system will also prevent the buildup of stagnant water which will limit the breeding of mosquitoes and/or other insects and pests that transmit diseases.
The next significantly high tide tide forecasted for Georgetown, Guyana is 9.22 feet on the 25th of November at 3 pm, and the high tide which had overtopped the seawall on the 28th of October measured 9.6 feet. (Tide-forecast.com)
