CIVIL Defence Commission (CDC), Director-General, Lieutenant Colonel, Kester Craig, said the commission is working with other agencies in carrying out its responsibilities following the overtopping of the sea and river defences by spring tide last week.

“What we are doing right now too is actually mapping using Geographical Information System (GIS). All of the areas that were actually impacted to get an understanding of how the high tides are actually affecting the coastline,” Craig said.

The private sector has also collaborated with the commission to help the severely impacted communities.

Residents of Zeelugt, West Coast Demerara, along with other Region Three communities were revisited and food hampers and cleaning supplies were delivered to them by the CDC.

This exercise was coordinated on Tuesday, following a donation of a cheque valued at $1M from Chung’s Global Enterprise.

“This gesture is timely and will provide food supplies that can last a family of five for about two weeks to three weeks. We are expediting this process. This cheque will be encashed immediately to purchase food supplies to be distributed by 16:00 hours this afternoon,” said Craig.

He explained that many residents within the hard-hit areas lost much of their food supplies, particularly due to the layout of the homes, where kitchens are at the bottom flats.

According to Craig, the CDC responded promptly to requests for assistance following an initial call at 04:00hrs on Saturday. A team led by the director-general was dispatched within 30 minutes to West Coast Demerara to initiate assessments.

“We responded by conducting the assessments first, then by the afternoon we were able to distribute cleaning agents to all the families so that they can start cleaning their homes – trying to prevent insects and snakes from entering their houses.”

Spring tides are a natural phenomenon that result in higher than average high tides. While normal high tides present waves ranging from 2.8 to three metres, any measurement above three metres is exceptional.

Last Sunday, the spring tide was at its strongest with a 3.36m recording. The CDC will conduct another aerial assessment on Tuesday with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. On Wednesday, October 2, the spring tide period will end.

Neighbourhoods along the coast of Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six were affected by floods during the spring tide. However, floodwaters in most areas quickly receded during the low tide.

The CDC will be revisiting other communities along the West Coast Demerara to disburse more supplies.

Meanwhile, Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams, after visiting Anna Catherina said, “We are in a state of readiness.”

The minister was at the time assessing the damage and needs of the residents in many neighbourhoods affected by the recent spring tides.

“We have been distributing drinking water to the families that are affected. We have already distributed cleaning supplies and we will continue to assist. We are now looking at procuring some food items because of course, they will need some food items to maintain their families,” said the minister of state.