A THUNDERSTORM lasting for more than two and half hours on Sunday night caused major flooding in Bartica, with the mayor reporting millions of dollars in losses.Gifford Marshall, Mayor of Bartica told the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday that about 21:00h Sunday it began to rain heavily accompanied by strong winds, heavy thunder and lighting.

He added that when they made the first check around midnight in the township they observed that some areas were flooded, noting that they have had problems with the koker and the sluice door. Marshall explained that they however, managed to get the sluice door opened to release some amount of water from the inundated area from First Avenue to Sixth Street, Bartica.

The Mayor stated that with the opening of the koker the water receded to some extent but it also shows too, that we have some challenges with the internal drains in the community especially, the alleyway drains because the water is still high there. He pointed out that that in an effort to appease affected residents a group consisting of councilors visited several families on Monday.

Marshall added that the flooding is severe and more than a dozen families are affected suffered major losses in household appliances etc. The mayor disclosed that mostly the lower flat of the houses were completely flooded while, people slept. He related that they have since informed Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and they are awaiting a response to see what support can be given to the flood victims. Marshall said they have since created a register of those affected and their losses quantified. He explained that about 50 experienced minor losses while, a dozen are severely affected and they are looking forward for assistance from central government to assist the flood victims. The mayor stated that they are also speaking with Ministry of Communities to see how they can have the drains cleaned.

Marshall disclosed, too, that when the thunderstorm hit, there was a power outage in Bartica, which he said, was a blessing in disguise. He said that their blackout woes started about two weeks ago when scheduled power outages rocked Bartica.