Linden’s freak storm… Affected residents to receive assistance by tomorrow

Aug 27, 2019 News

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Linden Residents affected by Friday’s freak storm, which damaged several rooftops and flooded homes, are expected to get much needed relief from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), according to Member of Parliament (MP) Jermaine Figuiera.

The Region 10 MP said that Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, under whose purview the Commission falls, would have responded positively to the call for assistance, and committed to providing same.
“Wednesday latest, the Civil Defence team, would be coming here, to render assistance,” Figuiera said.
Figuiera thanked the Banks DIH Linden Branch, for also offering support in the form of milk, water and biscuits.
He pointed out that because some persons are known to take advantage of such situations, the Civil Defence team would be working in collaboration with the RDC in identifying persons that were affected by the storm.
Some of the materials to be provided, include zinc sheets, hammer, nails and other items.
Meanwhile, Regional Chairman, Renis Morian, who is presently on vacation, said that affected families will also be given food hampers and cleaning supplies by the RDC.
Torrential rainfall Friday afternoon swamped Republic Avenue and other areas across Linden, and neighbouring Communities, pummelling rooftops, sending scores of zinc sheets flying, with residents in hot pursuit to retrieve them.
Among the buildings that lost zinc sheets was the Mackenzie High School.
Central Mackenzie suffered severe flooding, with key business places on Republic Avenue suffering the brunt of the flood waters.
According to a release from the Region’s Regional Democratic Council, residents from Moblissa to Blue Berry Hill and other Communities around Linden were affected by the storm, which ripped through roofs and walls.
Chairman Morian said that a team is currently assessing the extent of damage, which he estimates will be in the “vicinity of millions”.
“This was a big storm and it has left many residents with …damaged homes, we are therefore seeking assistance at the RDC, so that we can render needed assistance to several families.
The damage is severe, and I figure that it will be in the vicinity of millions, so we are seeking assistance to help some 100 families, who would have been severely affected.
Among the materials needed urgently, are 100 16-feet zinc sheets, 100 food hampers and cleaning agents in any amount.
Morian said that the collective damage is beyond the capacity of the Region to deal with.
He pointed out that most of the damage to homes was seen on Blue Berry Hill but added that there was also significant damage in Victory Valley.
“In the Valley, some people would have lost pig pens after trees fell on them, but the good news is that one sawmill owner has committed to supplying some building materials to help these persons rebuild.”
Environmentalist Samuel Wright has blamed the flooding on indiscriminate dumping of garbage, which clogs drains and said, “This is a wake-up call to residents to stop littering!”
Meanwhile, on the Wismar Shore, residents suffered mostly damaged roofs and power outage, after power lines and poles broke or otherwise got damaged.
According to informed sources at the Linden Utility Services COOP Society Limited, (LUSCSL) two transformers were damaged and now have to be replaced.
Power poles also had to be replaced.
“We worked until about midnight last night (Friday) to restore power after poles went down in Wisroc,” Supervisor and Operations Manager (ag) Berkley Joseph told this newspaper.
Joseph said that work had to be resumed early Saturday morning, and continued throughout the day as LUSCSL workers battled valiantly to ensure residents receive power.
Traffic was also affected, after a huge mango tree fell across the main access road to Blue Berry Hill.
As a result, motorist had to detour and use the longer route, through the Wismar Housing Scheme.
The situation, however, returned to normalcy after residents cut up the tree and removed it.
One Mackenzie resident, reflecting on the situation on that shore declared, “this is terrible, it is the worst that I’ve seen! There was water everywhere on Republic Avenue and vendors were scrambling to save their goods.”
While the woman acknowledged that the storm was an act of nature, and thus could not be avoided, she too quipped, “What this tells us is that we need to stop littering, people have to stop dumping garbage all over the place because when it rains we will suffer the consequences when the garbage clogs the drains.”
In an invited comment, regarding the issue, Environmentalist Samuel Wright observed, “Down town Linden has flooded at least three times over the last six months. The flooding usually occurs during high tides and heavy rainfall; the outfalls are covered by river levels and thus unable to drain the land.”
Wright pointed out, that the function of drains is to both convey and facilitate water runoff, but that the drains are “compromised” by garbage and siltation.
“Drains need to be cleaned more frequently, and residents need to restrain themselves from dumping garbage and other material in the drains!”
Another issue highlighted by Wright is the erection of structures over drains. These, he said, impede proper clearing.
Only recently, Wright engaged several youths in Linden, in a programme geared to help them better understand and care for the environment.
Known as the Linden Conservation Corps, the youths involved in the programme focused on the creeks and waterways in Wismar with special attention to Victory Valley, a community that has over 300 springs and is home to the famous Watanabo Creek.
The youths who were drawn from Secondary Schools across Linden, last week graduated after a gruelling few weeks of activities.
The idea behind the programme is to educate the youths on their environment so that they could go back into their communities and share their knowledge, Wright said.

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