In light of the existing weather, Minister of State Joseph Harmon is assuring that the National Emergency Monitoring system remains activated on a 24-hour basis with the ten administrative regions being actively monitored, the Department of Public Information (DPI) has reported.
The Minister, who was speaking during his post-cabinet press conference, said monitoring is being conducted via social media, television, HF radios, mobile and landline telephones to ensure that there is a timely and effective response to any incident, with respect to the heavy rainfall.
While all of the regions were affected by the rainfall, Minister Harmon noted that several farmlands and some 200 households in Region Three, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara were inundated as of December 24, 2017, which was as a result of clogged drains.
“Since the initial impact and assessment was done and heavy-duty equipment, machinery and so on were deployed on December 26th [2017] to the Canal, additionally all efforts were made to ensure that the pumps and kokers remain operational to ensure maximum release of water to prevent the situation from worsening,” he noted.
According to DPI, Minister Harmon said there have been minimal reports of flooding in Region Four, Demerara-Mahaica, with reports of two-five inches of accumulated water in Albouystown, South and North Ruimveldt areas and minor flooding along the East Coast.
The greatest accumulation of water, Minister Harmon pointed out, was on empty lots in Region Five, Mahaica-Berbice, however, he noted that reports have indicated that the water is receding from all areas except Bushlot.
The State Minister led a team to Canal Number One on Friday afternoon to further assess the damage, distribute hampers from the Civil Defense Commission (CDC) and to provide the necessary support.
The CDC is advising that persons remain alert since the heavy rainfall pattern particularly, on the coast can result in additional flooding.
