CDC continues disaster relief after spring tide
─ Corporate Guyana lends its support
DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Residents of Zeelugt on the West Coast of Demerara along with other communities in Region 3 were revisited to have food hampers and cleaning supplies delivered by the Civil Defence Commission (CDC). This exercise was coordinated on Tuesday, following a donation of a cheque valued at $1Million from Chung’s Global Enterprise.
“This gesture is timely and will provide food supplies that can last a family of 5 for about 2 weeks to 3 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 Director-General of the CDC, Lt. Col. Kester Craig upon receipt of the cheque, earlier in the day.
The CDC Head explained that many residents within the hard-hit areas would have lost much of their food supplies, particularly due to the layout of the houses that have kitchens situated on the bottom flat.
Concerning the disaster relief response, the Department of Public Information (DPI) learnt that this has been divided in various levels – these are at the Community level, Regional Administrative level and then at the level of the Civil Defence Commission.
According to the Director-General, 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 a half-hour to West Coast of 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 3m. Any measurement above 3m 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 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 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 of Demerara to disburse more supplies.