FRIDAY’S flash floods in Georgetown and other coastal areas were a stark reminder to citizens about the effects of climate change; the need for officials to always maintain our drainage structures and also to the government that despite its earlier pronouncements about the effectiveness of the city clean-up exercise, we are not yet out of the woods. There is a fourth element in all of this, the unreliability of the country’s hydrometeorological service. Enough has been said over the years about the city’s drainage system and its weaknesses, but unless we fix the weather forecast department, the calamity of yesterday will continue to happen.
Following Friday’s deluge, no less a person than the Prime Minister and First Vice-President, Moses Nagamootoo, described as “unsatisfactory the inability of the Hydrometerological Service to adequately provide accurate forecasts to forewarn citizens of the likelihood and possibility of flooding.” Such strong reprimand of a government department has been rare in this country, but it clearly demonstrated the PM’s level of frustration as a citizen and no doubt the thousands of Guyanese who were affected.
Mr. Nagamootoo further stated that the “HydroMet Service’s forecast of “scattered showers” Thursday evening and “occasional showers” early Friday morning were misleading and left citizens without accurate information, allowing them to take the necessary precautions and allowing agencies to act pre-emptively.” He insisted that this situation of the HydroMet Office not forewarning citizens of flooding has existed for several years and most recently, there were episodes in December 2014 and June 2015. He cautioned: “Floods cause economic dislocation, damage and losses and the HydroMet Office cannot afford to be casual about these matters.”
Might we add, when flood waters come, business owners are forced to shut down their operations and engage their staff and additional hired help in clean-up activities. Critical business hours are lost, profits are diminished. These have knock-on effects on the local economy, which for the most part is not analysed, to understand the real impact of any flood. Cumulatively however, one could say tens of millions of dollars would have to be expended on cleaning detergents and agents, buckets, mops,and sponges; labour alone is a modest estimate. This does not include the man hours and profits lost, the business disrupted, the additional electricity and water used in the clean-up exercises among other economic considerations. Add to that the closure of schools, the banking sector disrupted, city transportation in gridlock, work at the wharves grinding to a halt, market operations hampered, virtually every aspect of life suffered.
Then there are the health effects. Many persons, particularly children, may suffer from diarrhoea and similar communicable and water-borne diseases caused by them being exposed to the unsanitary flood waters. Apart from these persons not being able to attend school and work during their period of illness, they required medication and treatment, causing a strain on the health sector.
Medication has to be provided for them while doctors, nurses and other medical personnel have to dedicate time to patient care and recovery. When floodwaters come garbage, filth and reptiles surface. Large anacondas harboured in trenches and gutters near to residences prey on pets and livestock. These are just some of the effects of flooding in our country and these are by no means modest impacts on a society beset by other challenges.
In July this year, government received expert advice from the Dutch Risk Reduction team (DRR) which was contracted by the government to advise on the drainage system in Georgetown and the low-lying coastland. The DRR team recommended among other things that the Government of Guyana should adopt an “Urban Drainage Model for Georgetown (UDMG),” noting that having such a model would allow engineers to have a comprehensive understanding of the flow of water through the primary and secondary channels; interconnecting culverts, tunnels and sluices/pumps. There were several other recommendations, but a key one is that Government should equip Guyanese with the necessary knowledge to withstand the effects of flooding.
The DRR team said a communication plan needs to be developed to increase the understanding of Guyanese about what it means to live in a flood- prone country and also suggested that a flood-hazard map of Georgetown should be made and used as material to explain why it is of great importance to build their homes in such a way as to make them flood-proof. Though this aspect of the recommendation did not zero in on Guyana’s hydrometeorological service, which we believe is critical to any communication plan on flooding, it would do the administration well if it is to adopt the recommendations by the experts to integrate this department into this plan. This department over the years, despite the heavy investment in a $550 million Doppler Radar project intended to provide up-to-the-minute weather reports and other technology, has signally failed Guyanese. Weather forecasts to most Guyanese are now an afterthought in their planning of activities, largely because citizens do not find the reports coming out of that department reliable.