35 houses under flood waters at Kwakwani

of Lamp Island, an Upper-Berbice community of Kwakwani, are presently being affected by flooding in the area.

According to Regional Vice-Chairman, Region10, Elroy Adolph, the low lying community is surrounded by a swamp and a river, adding that, the flood occurred two days ago due to heavy rainfall which resulted in a raise in the water level.

Annually, the unregulated community which is occupied by approximately 100 persons would experience flooding due to prolonged rainfalls.

Adolph told Village Voice that the residents of Lamp Island refuse to remove from the unregulated area, as such, there is not much that can be done, other than to wait for the water to subside.

Adolph noted that there is no need for persons to be alarmed by the situation since the water is only three feet high and residents do not need to evacuate the area, however, officials are monitoring the situation.
Residents of Lamp Island recently received sanitation items from the Kwakwani Hospital and according to the Vice-Chairman, “if the water gets higher than where it is, measures will be taken to further assist the residents.”

Meanwhile, a damage assessment team from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) flew into community to conduct assessments and provide support in the form of cleaning and sanitation supplies to Lamp Island, Kwakwani where floodwaters had affected residents.

In a release CDC said the team, headed by Captain Salim October, comprising Lieutenant Lakshman Persaud, Corporal Delroy Carroll and Mr. Stan Gouveia, met with the Regional Vice-Chairman Mr Elroy Adolph, NDC Chairwoman Ms. Elise McPherson, Overseer Ms. Clasissa Hohenkerk and other NDC representatives before deploying to Lamp Island where the affected residents reside.

According to the NDC Chair, the floodwaters are a usual occurrence brought on by the overtopping of the Berbice River, but she informed that while it usually abates with the tide; this time around it continued to rise without any of the expected tidal relief.

Thirty (30) households were presented with cleaning hampers and disinfectant to aid in their cleaning due to the rising floodwaters that inundated their households.

The CDC handed over an additional ten (10) hampers to the NDC to facilitate other households should the need arise.