IN May 2021, the regional authorities of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) had declared that the community of Kwakwani was in a “severe state” since floodwaters had risen above 15 feet, completely covering several homes.

This had resulted in many residents being forced to evacuate their homes and move into the temporary shelters that were established in wake of the disaster.

Fortunately, they were able to return to their respective homes after the water had completed receded. However, there was no warm welcome as they had to deal with the after effects of the flood. Today, many of them are still dealing with those after effects.

Kenrick Samuels, who owns and operates a welding shop in the community, told the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday that he was still rebuilding his home and workshop.

Samuels recalled that the water in the area was rising quickly, and within the blink of an eye, his workshop was completely inundated.

The man said that the water level was so high that it had reached the top floor of his two-storey house.

“I had to start all over again. I had to look after my whole inside, change all the walls and do over everything in the house. Even in the workshop I had to start all over again,” Samuels said.

He noted that he was still trying to get his business back into full operation, having lost almost all of his welding equipment in the flood.

Meanwhile, Cort Simeon, the Vice-Chairman of the Kwakwani Neighbourhood Democratic Council, disclosed that residents would have experienced a similar ordeal in the Kwakwani Waterfront area some ten years ago and sometime in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Life is like normal again, people gone back to their normal life. Some persons had to do repairs and they would have done. It’s something that they are accustomed to but this time around the height of the water was really high,” he added.

TIME TO RELOCATE
According to Cort, the waterfront which is separated from the Berbice River by a long stretch of road and a sandbank along with another area called Lamp Island were the most severely affected parts of the community, due to the over-flowing of the river.

Simeon explained that residents would usually brace themselves for torrential rainfall and high tide, but what they had not prepared themselves for, was high water levels.

As such, he said persons living in those areas were being advised to relocate; however, there was some reluctance.

“Only thing that can be done is for the government intervention to dredge the river so flooding won’t be so severe, but with climate change you can’t really tell how or when it [will] come again, but people may have to relocate and that in itself is hard thing to get people to move,” he added.

He said that the NDC had since reached out to government officials to identify lands for persons to relocate and was waiting for a response.

SEASONAL FLOODING
To trace the history of seasonal flooding in the Region 10 community, the Guyana Chronicle had spoken to the former Regional Chairman, Mortimer Mingo, who was the acting regional chairman some ten years ago when severe flooding had hit the community.

Mingo, in that interview, had said that severe flooding in Kwakwani was a phenomenon that tended to occur every ten years or so during the rainy season or whenever there was above-normal rainfall.

He had noted that, in 2006, just after a wave of severe flooding, the then government had identified an area in Kwakwani to be transformed into a housing scheme to facilitate the relocation of residents from the waterfront area. However, only a few residents would have opted to relocate.

Mingo had explained to this publication that, in the past, residents would just clean-up and go back to normal after the floodwaters would have receded.

He had insisted that given the recurring floods, residents, particularly those living along the waterfront should take climate change and global warming into consideration and relocate.