December flooding affected more than 5000 homes – CDC

(A home under water on the East Coast of Demerara)

There have been reports of flooding across 46 communities countrywide with some 5885 households affected. The Civil Defence Commission said that this is among the information that has been presented to first Flood Response Task Force Meeting on Sunday hosted by Prime Minister Mark Phillips.

This is the second major type of flooding recorded for the year in which households as well as farmlands and livestock have been affected.

Regions 1 to 6 bear the bulk of the reports, with Regions 1 to 4 experiencing the most impact thus far, the CDC reported in this meeting. “Livestock, domestic animals and farmlands are in distress and damages have been conveyed.”

The CDC  conducted Rapid Flood Assessments in key affected areas in Regions 2,4 and 9 where it worked with NDIA, Regional Democratic Councils (RDC) and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC); and distributed sandbags in Lamaha Springs, South Ruimveldt and Section C Sophia; and issued flood, weather and prevention alerts to the public, the CDC said.

During Sunday’s meeting, Chairman of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority, Mr. Lionel Wordsworth noted that most of the pumps, sluices and kokers are operational and those that are not are being addressed with urgency.

“The Task Force posited in agreement that parts of Region 2 have been severely impacted and should be closely monitored,” the CDC said on Monday.

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha also reported that pumps have been used to boost water outflow particularly in areas such as Georgetown and Mahaicony. As a result, the water has receded exponentially in these locations, the CDC said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Garvin Cummings, Chief Hydrometeorological Officer has indicated that above normal levels of rainfall are expected across Guyana, especially along the coast. “…we’re looking at at least three to four inches of rainfall across all Regions within the next 24 hours.” The weather specialist indicated that Region 9 can also expect an unseasonably large amount of rainfall over the next few days.