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Unusually high winds cause countrywide destruction
– knock out roofs, HGP-TV tower
Unusually high winds throughout several sections of the Coast and elsewhere yesterday produced some fantastic and destructive results, leaving residents of Parfaite Harmonie and North Ruimveldt, patrons of Splashmins Resorts and the proprietors of HGP-TV/Channel 67 in Beterverwagting with new found respect for the forces of nature.
The winds sent roofs flying, severed utility poles, collapsed a television tower and crushed several benabs, all in a devastating mid afternoon spell.
The incident at Splashmins, located on the Soesdyke, Linden Highway occurred at approximately 15:40hrs yesterday afternoon. Patrons had almost no warning when the structures came crashing down and several were injured.
According to one eyewitness, whose husband and two children sustained minor injuries, her family and other patrons were taking shelter from the rising wind under the benabs when all hell broke loose.
The patrons remained under the shelter of the structures, but the winds were powerful enough to bring at least three of the benabs down on top of the occupants. According to the upset patron, who identified herself as Jennell, her husband only had enough time to cover their two children, ages three and one year old, with his own body, but he nevertheless sustained injuries to his back from the falling structure.
Residents of Parfait Harmonie replacing their roof which was blown off by the high winds.
This sign was too weak to withstand the force of the winds.
Meanwhile, on the West Bank of Demerara, the high winds blew the roof off of one building at lot 388 Schoonard, Phase Two, Parfait Harmonie, slamming it into the opposite house with so much force that it demolished part of the balcony and left several broken concrete spindles strewn across the ground.
“We were in the back and the rain came down hard, and we hear a high breeze, then the impact. So my friends say like we roof blow off,” the affected home owner told Kaieteur News.
According to the woman, when she exited to check on the source of the noise, she was greeted by the sight of smashed spindles on her balcony and several zinc sheets lying at the side of the house. Her neighbour, who was standing in the opposite balcony looking on, could only shrug.
“You can’t blame him, because it was a high wind but I thank God that nobody got injured. With labour and material cost, it would take approximately $150,000 to replace.”
And over at HGP-TV Channel 16, the winds damaged the transmission tower, resulting in disruptions to the TV Station’s service. HGP-TV was also forced to reschedule the airing of its news program for Monday, June 29th to between 8:00pm- 9:00pm, due to technical works needed to repair the tower.
Guyana is currently in the May- June season, which is well known for heavy rains and high winds.
And these conditions have already produced flooding throughout central Georgetown, as well as areas in the Essequibo and Berbice regions, causing crop losses among other damage.
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