–but more rain expected

THE flood waters that threatened to overwhelm the city and its environs on Christmas Eve and sent many a festive spirit plummeting has receded significantly, but, unfortunately,

some areas are still under water.

That’s the word from Minister of Public Infrastructure, Mr David Patterson who told the Guyana Chronicle by telephone on Tuesday that his ministry is doing its best to ensure that the situation is brought under control soon.

He has indicated that most of the pumps have been deployed, so that the process of ridding the communities of water could be timely.

A source from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) also confirmed that the City is also doing its part to ensure that the situation is back to normalcy by clearing drains and doing other drainage work to allow for a smooth flow of the water off of the streets.

During a drive around the city during the course of the day Tuesday, it was discovered that areas such as Festival City and Bel Air Park are still under water.

Residents of each of those areas said the water was much higher, but that it began receding rapidly on Monday. Some said the situation was so bad that they were forced to dwell in water both Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as it was not receding as fast as they had expected it to.

Asked whether the situation had in any way dampened their spirit, some said that not even the rain could not stop them; that the fun must go on, as a lot of effort was put into ensuring that all plans were actualised for the season.

Meanwhile, reports are that the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) did an assessment of the areas affected by flooding following Friday’s downpour, and according to Colonel (Ret’d) Chabilall Ramsarup, because the flood waters would have completely receded within 24 hours, except in Albouystown and South Ruimveldt, there was no need to offer relief.
But, there very well might be, as the Guyana Meteorological Office has forecast that more rainfall is expected over the next three days, measuring 10.0 – 30.0 mm.