CDC conducts flood assessment in capital city  

─ collaborates with M&CC

─ CDC to distribute cleaning hampers

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, July 3, 2019

As part of their mandate to respond to disasters, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) assessed Georgetown and its environs on Wednesday, following heavy rainfall.

The evaluation was done in collaboration with the Mayor and City Council (M&CC). Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma was also present. The team visited several areas around the capital city where they met with residents in various communities to assess the situation. It was observed that the floodwaters were receding at a reasonable rate on the streets, and in a few homes.

In an invited comment, CDC Senior Response Officer, Captain Salim October said, “we are particularly worried about the vulnerability of residents that are sitting pretty low to the road level, to floodwaters.”

Scenes from the assessment around Georgetown.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma, [left] and Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine [third from left] along with officials from the CDC and M&CC during their assessment of the city following heavy rainfall.

Scenes from the assessment around Georgetown.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma and Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine visiting one of the flood-affected areas.

Scenes from the assessment around Georgetown.

Captain October further added “in our direct response, we provided cleaning hampers because health and hygiene is our primary concern. It is crucial that residents are able to clean and return their homes to a safe environment… Secondly, based on that vulnerability that we have observed, we will mobilise sand to create sandbags so that they can be utilised to create barriers to prevent water from entering the homes.”

The Senior Response Officer assured that the CDC will continue to monitor the situation. He disclosed that two teams were deployed to assess the situation in Georgetown and the lower East Coast of Demerara. The teams are being assisted by participants of the CDC’s Voluntary Emergency Response Team (VERT) programme.

Minister Sharma, who was a part of the team, noted the need to have the drains desilted and weeds removed on a constant basis to be able to handle the amount of rain which fell during the 24hr period.

In this regard, Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine is urging residents to keep their environs clean and practice proper disposal of the waste to keep the drains and canals clear of weeds.

Images: Jules Gibson