-residents asked to take precaution

THE Hydrometerological Office in the Ministry of Agriculture has forecasted that more heavy rainfall will occur over the weekend.
In addition, citizens are advised that the above normal high tide will be in effect and will continue until Monday, July 8, 2019.

According to a three-day advisory by the department, today Friday, there will be intermittent and continuous rain, coupled with thunderstorms. The rainfall is expected to measure between 40.0 mm (millimetres) and 60.0 mm.

On Saturday morning, moderate to heavy rain measuring between 40.0 mm and 65.0 mm, is expected. The prediction for Sunday, however, is early to mid-morning showers, amounting to between 0.0 and 20.0 mm.

Residents are therefore asked to take the necessary precautions, as the weather conditions may produce water accumulation or flooding in vulnerable areas and mudslides in the hilly ones.

Heavy rains, which started last weekend, saw several main thoroughfares and wards in the city being inundated with water by mid-morning on Monday. Several yards in communities were covered with water and some residents living in the lower flats of buildings had reported that flood waters had seeped into their place of abode.

Both the mayor and City Council (M&CC) and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (ND&IA) have reported that all of the drainage pumps in the city are in working order. However, while a great amount of water was able to be drained off the land, it did not happen as quickly as the authorities would have wanted. The indiscriminate dumping of garbage by callous residents resulted in some drains, canals and the mouth of sluices being blocked with plastic bottles and other debris, thus preventing the water from flowing freely, the M&CC reported.

Compounding the issue is the fact that above normal high tide is being experienced, and when this occurs, the doors of the sluices that allow water to be drained into the Demerara River cannot be opened.

Meanwhile, the Mayor, councilors and other officers and workers of the city have been working assiduously and round-the-clock, in an effort to drain as much water off the land in an effort to alleviate the discomfort of the affected residents.