La Nina, Springtide flooding…

…mulling a shift of Mash to Sunday, holiday on Monday
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday announced that the army, Civil Defence Commission(CDC) and health authorities have been placed on alert should there be the need to move the flood operations to a higher stage, as the worst of the La Nina phenomenon combined with extra high tides caused flooding in many parts of the country.
He made the disclosures during a tour of many flooded areas, including South Georgetown, South Ruimveldt and areas along the East Coast of Demerara. He also inspected some of the drainage and irrigation infrastructures along the way.
“By now, most of you would have seen the outcome of this unusual amount of rainfall that we have experienced in the past 48 hours,” he said, speaking to reporters at Montrose, East Coast Demerara.
He added that the Hydromet Office has given the numbers, which show that in the last 24 hours, “we have had between three to five inches along the coast at various [geographic] points.”
He said also that in some places such as St. Cuthbert’s Mission, there has been some 10 inches of rainfall in 48 hours. “Now when you talk about those numbers, [it means] more rain on average than you get in an entire month happening in 24 to 48 hours. The intensity of the rain is huge; it is all part of this La Nina phenomenon and the worrying thing about this is that it is forecast that this will continue at least for the next 24 hours,” he said.
He said too that with so many areas saturated and with so much water on the land, it complicates the situation tremendously to get the water out.
“The result of this unusual weather phenomenon is that we have seen flooding in many parts of the country…Almost 60 percent of the households [in the areas with the most rainfall] have some form of water. Some are more affected than others, but in most of the villages you have water,” the President said.
He spoke with all of the regional chairmen – except Regions One, Eight and Nine – for updates, “and I have had an assessment of the situation in those regions. Region 10 said that it is not so bad, they had some showers and they are looking at the situation.”
He said that he spoke to the chairmen to check with the riverine areas to ensure that they are not affected in light of the heavy rainfall that St. Cuthbert’s had experienced. “We are very worried that those riverine villages may be affected,” he said.
According to the report that the president received out of Region Seven, the rain is not heavy there. “In Region Two, it is really bad. We have had the conservancy overtopping in some areas and several villages have water; and the big fear is the conservancy overtopping in some areas. Region Three also has a lot of water in many areas, like Patentia, Goed Fortuin, the Canal areas and many other areas,” he said.
“I also spoke with the regional chairman for Region Four and he said he was out in the villages. I told him to make sure he visits. Many of the East Coast villages are flooded…Unity, Cane Grove, Mahaica and many others along the coast. In Region Five, we had water in Ithaca, Blairmont and Hopetown area, and some others. I spoke with the chairman and [he reported] that some of the rivers are swollen in the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary area, and the big worry now is that with the large volumes of water coming down the river…those areas are very, very prone to flooding,” said the President.
He said that several areas, such as No. 19 and Fyrish are under water. “I have asked several ministers to be out, Minister [Robeson Benn] has been out in the field, also Minister Kellawan Lall. I have asked Dharamkumar Seeraj of the Rice Producers Association and Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali to go to Region Five.
“[The water] is really a problem for those communities. I have asked all of the regional chairmen to be out in the communities and make sure they stay in touch with me. Prime Minister Sam Hinds, Mrs. Hinds, Minister Jennifer Westford and Priya Manickchand [will organise] a hotline so that in case of extreme situations people can call in. The Prime Minister is manning this for me,” said the President.
“I have put the army on alert and I have spoken to the head of the Civil Defence Commission to make sure that they are ready in case we have to move to another phase of activities. I also spoke with the Leader of the Opposition…I told the head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority to send [Robert Corbin] the reports so that he is aware of what is going on. We are very much concerned, we are out in the fields gathering the information. We are going to try to bring some assistance to those most affected, but with the volume of water, it will be very hard to drain the water off immediately,” he said.
“We hope that the rainfall will abate sometime [today] so we can deploy all of our capabilities to getting the water off the land. I know the discomfort that many people experience; but thankfully we are still flat,” he said, citing the high death toll in neighbouring Brazil when that country experienced recent floods.
“We are going to make sure that the health authorities are mobilised and are on standby, so that in case we need to change operation we can do so at a moment’s notice,” he said.

EDWC approaching crisis levels
The President said that the dam of the East Demerara Water Conservancy is at near threatening levels – 58 GD at Flagstaff and Lama. “When it gets to 59 GD it’s threatening. At the other end, it’s about 56.5 GD. We are blowing a lot of water into the Demerara River. We do not want to blow water into the Mahaica/Mahaicony Rivers, because those rivers are already swollen with the water coming down from the back lands. We are hoping that the rain doesn’t fall excessively, because if it does, then we won’t have a choice,” said the President.
“Now more and more people would see the wisdom of the Hope Canal that we have started, but that’s another matter. So that in a nutshell is what we are doing,” said President Jagdeo.
According to the President, health advisories have been dispatched over  national television to take all precautions. “It is very hard to tell people to take precautions when the water is rising, but maybe they can take the appliances off the floor [using sandbags],” he said.

Mash might be shifted
“I spoke with the Leader of the Opposition this morning. Dr. Frank Anthony [Minister of Culture,Youth and Sport] and I had discussions. Even if we get the water off and the rainfall abates by Wednesday, the land is soggy and any little shower, which we anticipate, will create problems. I raised this with [Corbin] and [asked for his views on it] because I don’t want it to become a very controversial matter,” he said.
“I think that the idea is for us to take the holiday on Monday and hold the celebrations on Sunday so that people have the free day on Monday. We haven’t made a decision as yet but I hope sense would prevail,” he said.