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When it rains…. it pours!

Nov 05, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The Gods are being kind to us. It usually rains heavily for a few hours each day and then the rain ceases. Heaven forbid if it should rain for two straight days without respite. The country will then experience another Great Flood like the one 15 years ago.
I found it surprising that yesterday the authorities reported that almost five inches of rain fell over a few hours. I recall in the 1960s and 1970s, it used to rain heavily all day, just as heavy as it does today, and the rainfall used to be at most three inches.
Flooding was inevitable in the countryside. The water would stay on the land for a few days and then run-off. This is why in those days most houses were built on stilts. In old Georgetown, there was hardly any flooding but in the poorer areas water always stayed on the land for days.
A tragedy is waiting to happen in Guyana. Ten inches of rainfall over a two-day period will lead to widespread flooding and a massive reduction in gross national product, as was the case in 2005.
The government has to get rid of this idea that the country’s drainage system was created only to take off, at most, two inches of rain, and anything above that will lead to flooding. This country cannot develop if 15 years after the Great Flood, the country drainage capacity has only improved to take off an additional half of an inch of rain. But the real reason why this mindset has to change is because if we do get torrential rain for days, as in the past, there will be unaffordable losses.
The country’s drainage systems have been compromised. Whether in the towns or villages, run-off water does not flow freely like they used in colonial Guyana. As such, it takes far longer for water to run-off. This was evident yesterday where despite the kokers being opened a few hours before peak low tide, the water level in the trenches and drains were still high and water had not fully pulled off the land in many areas.
The outfalls are also part of the problem. They need dredging and because of the build-up of sedimentation, the water does not run off quick enough thereby aggravating flooding.
The third problem is the lack of storage capacity. The drains and trenches no longer can hold as much water. They are silted up and the ill-advised policy of raising road levels means that most of the banks of our canals are subject to increased erosion. And the excessive use of concrete reduces the amount of water which can be absorbed on land. This contributes to flooding.
But all of these problems are known. What is needed is a Plan. The PPP/C and the APNU+AFC had initiated a number of studies on the country’s drainage systems. These studies are gathering dust, primarily because they require huge capital investments which the governments have never been able to afford.
However, simple solutions can make a huge impact. Timing, for example, can make a big difference. In the colonial days, there used to be an overseer who used to ride around on his bicycle to every koker in the city to ensure that they are opened on time. A late opening by half of an hour can mean the difference between flooding and no flooding. If the kokers are supposed to be opened at midnight, who checks that they are? What system is in place to ensure that the kokers are opened on time and that they remain open, when they can, until the water level in the drains are low.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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