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IMPACT OF FLOODS
The deluge on April 16, last, and the attendant high tide, flooded a number of streets in Georgetown for several hours. But as soon as the high tide receded, the waters drained off, which suggests a significant improvement in the drainage system.
In the past, the streets in the city and its environs would have remained flooded for days, if not weeks. Flooding has become an occupational hazard for residents dwelling or working in Georgetown, but there is much improvement today than in the past.
Flooding in Georgetown and the rural areas of the country is an annual ritual that has played out in the lives of the people for decades. During the last administration, it was usually accompanied by a sort of unfinished-to-do list that included floodgates and kokers that were not maintained.
Indeed, outfall channels were not dredged, canals were clogged due to the illegal dumping of refuse, and illegal buildings built over drains.
Every time there were floods, the last government played the blame game to the hilt with promises to solve the problem. It never did.
The quickness at which the water receded this time shows some improvement in the drainage system, but it is nowhere close to solving this perennial problem. The drainage reservoirs can accommodate up to two inches of rainfall. If there is that volume of rain water on the land, it would accumulate in the drains. The Dutch had the solution. They dug huge canals in the city so that the water from the secondary drains would accumulate in these until the kokers or sluices opened.
In the not too distant past, it would take an hour of rainfall to flood the streets of Georgetown and it would be several days before the water receded. But this time, it took more than 24 hours of rainfall and high tide to flood the city. This is commendable for those whose responsibility it is to upgrade the drainage system.
The fact that close to 80 percent of Guyana’s coastal population live below sea level has made them particularly vulnerable to high tide which stemmed largely from climate change and shifts in the height of the sea.
The sea level, along Guyana’s coastal plain, which is the home to almost all of the country’s agricultural production, is rising faster than the average global warming trend. It means that rises in the sea level due to global warming have dramatically increased the likelihood that homes, businesses, schools and streets will be flooded.
In order to reduce flooding, Georgetown and about 25 percent of the coastal plain are protected by seawalls, 60 percent by mangroves and 15 percent by natural sandbanks. And although other locations have pumps to drain the water, yet flooding occurs after heavy rainfalls and high tides.
Scientists have found that Guyana’s coastal plain is sinking owing to groundwater extraction, soil erosion and drainage of the wetlands and nothing can be done to prevent the decay.
During the last half century, the sea level off Guyana rose at a rate of six times the global average. The rise in sea level could devastate agricultural products if saltwater intrudes into the estuaries used to irrigate them. Saltwater from the rising seas could contaminate the fresh water supplies used for drinking and other domestic and industrial activities. It could also kill-off the fresh water fish.
The authorities must ensure the free flow of the waterways, the efficient functioning of pumps, sluices and kokers and a more effective way in the disposal of garbage. In other words, it is a matter of enforcing on a regular basis the environmental standards, which were established by governments, past and present.
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