‘Freak storm’ batters West Coast Berbice
Some of the houses that were damaged due to the freak storm on Friday night on the West Coast of Berbice
Some of the houses that were damaged due to the freak storm on Friday night on the West Coast of Berbice

By Nafeeza Yahya-Sakur
ABOUT 19 houses in several communities on the West Coast of Berbice, in Region Five, including Bath, Waterloo and Experiment, suffered extensive damage as a result of a freak storm on Friday night.

Residents of those communities are now counting their losses and are hoping for some relief from the relevant authorities. Regional Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal; Vice Chairman, Rion Peters, along with Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag, were on the ground speaking with affected families and assessing the situation.

One of the residents, Deokumar Jagan, 49, told the Sunday Chronicle that he was woken out of his sleep by loud sounds and realized that the roof was being blown off.

Regional Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal (extreme left); Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag, and other officials engaging residents who were affected

“When we hear the noise them, thing start fly out on the house top; so I hurry to cut off the main switch and grab my wife and child as we coming out the house, so the rain coming in the house heavy, heavy; we were walking on the water-soaked carpets,” Jagan recalled.

Jagan and his family, including his five-year-old, sought shelter at a neighbour’s house.
“All the things inside damage: clothing, sofa, wardrobe, mattresses. When this thing happen, me and meh wife and child just come out to safety and everything left behind.

“It was shocking to see but I couldn’t save anything; it hurt me to see them damage because I work hard to put things in the house.”
Jagan, a mechanic, said up to late Saturday he was unable to repair the damaged roof due to financial constraints. He is opened to any help available and can be contacted on telephone number 661-6149.

Some of the houses that were damaged due to the freak storm on Friday night on the West Coast of Berbice

Meanwhile, Dave Singh and his family of Lot 18 Plantation Hope managed to save a few items but their roof, kitchen cupboards, television set and chest of drawers were damaged.
According to Singh, at around 22:00hrs on Friday, he heard the growling of the wind and within minutes, he noticed zinc sheets being ripped off the house.

“We try to save what we could, like mattress and stuff.”
Singh estimated his losses to be over $200,000 and on Saturday, he purchased the zinc sheets to replace the roof but it will be delivered until Sunday. In the interim, he used some “old zinc sheets” for shelter.

Some of the houses that were damaged due to the freak storm on Friday night on the West Coast of Berbice

Singh, a cane harvester, said the added financial expense is “tough” since “out of crop season” just started and the storm also damaged his three-quarter acre of eschallot garden.
Like the others, Bimen Sawh, of 313 Plantation Hope, West Coast Berbice, was unable to save anything from his house. He said he, his son and daughter-in-law hurriedly sought shelter at a relative’s home.

His roof was also blown away. Sawh had to dig into his savings to replace the roof but, on Saturday, he was still hesitant to turn on the electricity to the house.
Another house also collapsed while motorcycles were also damaged and a utility pole fell during the storm. The Guyana Power and Light managed to restore power to the area during Saturday.

The Regional Chairman told this newspaper that excavators have also been deployed to affected areas to assist with drainage. The Civil Defence Commission and other stakeholders have been engaged to provide assistance.

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