- CDC assessing situation
Following Friday’s freak storm in Jawalla, Region 7, that claimed the life of a pregnant woman, the Guyana Civil Defence Commission along with Junior Indigenous Affairs Minister, Valarie Garrido-Lowe and Minister Dawn Hastings have travelled up to the village to deliver emergency supplies to the residents and assess the damages to the community.
The dead woman has been identified as 29-year-old Marsha Jordan who was 7 months pregnant at the time. She is the mother of two girls ages 3 and 11. At around 16:00h on Friday heavy winds, lightning and thunder wreaked havoc on the Amerindian Village damaging several houses in the process. Jordan and her two daughters were sheltering under a house when it collapsed on them immediately killing her.
“The realities of life are no stranger to us. Rest assured that your government will render assistance. The Civil Defence Commission and Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs have already been working to ensure emergency supplies are flown in to assist,” Minister Garrido-Lowe said.
Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said that the Government and people of Guyana stand ready to lend support to the community of Jawalla as it mourns the loss of one of its residents and the destruction of several homes and buildings because of a freak storm on Friday evening.
He said that the CDC would be working with the regional administration to assist the affected community and to ensure that normalcy is restored as quickly as possible.
Acting Director General of the CDC, Major Kester Craig said that the Government is committed to its responsibility to provide support and disaster relief to affected residents. He added that the CDC along with an engineer from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, representatives from the Ministry of Public Health and other related agencies have been dispatched to the village and residents will be provided with food supplies, temporary shelters, blankets, water purification tablets and other necessities.
Damage to property included the total destruction of four homes and the partial destruction of another five homes, the roof of the Community Centre and two buildings of the Village Council Office. The water tanks and water trestle of the nursery school were also damaged, while the washroom facilities of the primary and nursery schools have been destroyed.
