Houston residents flooded after trench blocked

A trench blocked to facilitate works at Houston, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on Monday caused severe flooding for residents, following hours of heavy rainfall.
In the early morning hours, a period of heavy rain caused more than one foot of water to accumulate in the yards of residents. It then entered several houses, creating a frenzy as persons tried to bail out their homes.
Guyana Times visited the community, where concrete piles have been blocking the water from draining, causing inundation.

One resident, Roopnarine (only name) told this publication that this was the second time they were facing flooding since the works began. After failed efforts to bail out the floodwaters, they contacted authorities. An opening was made to channel the floodwaters into the trench.
“This is the second time we had to call them to open back the waterway, because our place is flooded. If that waterway is going to be blocked permanently, we are going to be flooded all the time, ‘cause this water ain’t get anywhere to go,” the affected resident noted.
The elderly man explained that he has lived in the area for 63 years -and they have never faced such problems before. While the plan is to build a culvert to allow drainage, he said the water would move downhill, so this move was irrational.
“This water is running by gravity in a slope. It can’t run up back. They building a culvert at the top. They didn’t build it as yet, but they start to do the other work. So now that the rain come, our whole place flooding all the time, right through the whole line of houses,” he related.

Roopnarine said the only option during such flooding was to prevent the water from entering their homes, which is sometimes an impossible feat.
“We’re in a disaster area here now and this affecting the entire street plus people at the other community. This trench is draining the entire community,” he shared.
Meanwhile, another resident, Mohamed Chunilall told this publication that another major problem for the village was irrigation. There is a rain drain in close proximity to the roadway that is filled with inches of sand and debris.
When the land started to flood on Monday, he left his market stall and came to the rescue of neighbours who were tremendously affected.
“They get damages steady. Our yard don’t flood because it’s high, but every time their yard is flooded, we got to dedicate ourselves to help them clean up. I close up my stall at the market to come and give them a hand to clean up,” Chunilall explained.
Residents are calling on the relevant authorities to look into the matter to bring some form of relief. Losses for these households are pegged at millions. (G12)