Freak storm wreaks havoc on coastal Guyana –causes extensive damage to residential, other properties
A FREAK storm gusting across the Atlantic yesterday hit coastal Demerara, causing extensive damage to residential and other properties in its path.Among communities most severely affected were North Ruimveldt and neighbouring Lamaha Springs in Greater Georgetown; La Parfaite Harmonie on the West Demerara; Linden in Region Ten; and villages along the East Bank Demerara. At around 14:30hrs, heavy rainfall accompanied by strong howling winds, hit the coastland. The speed and force of the winds ripped galvanized zinc sheets off buildings; threw down fences; downed several power lines and had electrical wires dancing dangerously on the ground and uprooted several billboards. For several minutes, coconut trees were dancing to the force of the wind, until eventually one of them was broken in half. Meanwhile, other bearing fruit trees such as bananas were uprooted and the fruits had to be hastily retrieved.
PARFAITE HARMONIE At Parfaite Harmonie ‘across the River’, the roof (galvanized sheets and rafters) was ripped off of one residential building and sent flying some 75 feet across the road where it connected with the roof of another house, smashing the front of the roof and concrete spindles on the verandah. A distraught property owner, Angela Bess of 245 Schoonard, Parfaite Harmonie related that she, her daughters and a friend were at the back of the yard, and after they experienced what seemed to be a squall, they went into the lower flat of the building and suddenly they heard crashing sounds. The friend, who looked outside immediately, told her that her galvanized sheets were falling. “But my sheets are blue, and when I looked outside, there were red sheets on the ground. That’s when I realised that the neighbour’s roof was resting in my yard,” Angela recalled. She has suffered extensive losses, but still has occasion to give God thanks and praise. She is thanking God that she was not in her bedroom at the time, since it was the portion over her bed that came crashing down. The woman who is in the process of bringing in and arranging her furniture in the top flat of her home, said that all that should have been completed yesterday. However for some reason the maid did not show up, hence the job had to be postponed. “When I stop to think that we could have been on that verandah or in the yard beneath, I shudder to think of what could have been the outcome, and so I can only thank God for saving our lives,” Angela said gratefully. Two houses away, at the home of Nikita Persaud, her motorcycle was parked on the bridge outside her gate. The force of the wind first threw it down, then another gust threw it clean into the trench. Niketa whose home is also built of concrete, said she literally experienced the house shaking and became scared, then she heard the boys next door telling her about what had happened to her motorcycle. SOUTH RUIMVELDT And posing even greater threat to life and limb were the incidents in North Ruimveldt. At the junction of Aubrey Barker Street and Blue Mountain Road several power poles and a transformer were brought down onto the road and wires danced dangerously, bringing traffic to a halt, until the arrival of the fire tender. A guard hut in front of Johnny P’s new supermarket was uprooted, and so was a billboard. While still there, the fire fighters received another call which caused them to hastily move off the scene. NORTH RUIMVELDT Another danger was the situation in Ozama Street, North Ruimveldt, where Nidole Austin, an employee of the Bank of Guyana had half of her roof ripped off as galvanized sheets went flying over into Layou Street. Austin recalled that as the rain began falling heavier, she realised that water was pouring down from every part of the house, but since the roof is sealed, she did not immediately realise that her sheets had taken flight. “When I looked out, a gentleman was walking towards the yard and I heard him saying that the roof rip off. I thought he was talking about his roof and so I felt sympathetic towards him, but then he pointed to my roof and said that is what he was speaking about. Austin said literally everything in the house was soaked – the refrigerator, telephone, furniture – from chair to bed – everything. Apart from that, their fruit trees were uprooted and bananas had to be hastily cut. She and her neighbour on the lower flat, Joylyn Emanuel, were left to ponder the next move forward. And in Layou Street, several power lines burst and were seen hanging dangerously across the streets. In one case, a network of lines was hanging dangerously across the road with a zinc sheet hanging from them, obstructing the flow of traffic. Consequently power had to be shut off to the affected areas for a considerable period. In Flying Fish Street, several Christmas Tree plants belonging to horticulturalist Charles Nelson were thrown down while in other areas as the downpour eased, men were seen hastily repairing their roof. Meanwhile, at Lamaha Springs, home of some members of the Joint Services, galvanized sheets were also ripped off by the strong winds and send flying several houselots away. GEORGETOWN AND EAST BANK And on Vlissengen Road, a huge billboard outside the Girl Guides Association was also thrown down, while on the East Bank Demerara, a huge billboard outside Rahaman’s Conference Centre and Banquet Hall at Houston, East Bank Demerara was uprooted and strewn across the entrance to the facility. The weather condition which started around 14:30 hrs lasted for less than an hour, but caused extensive damage in the process.
</dt><dd class="gallery-caption"> Nikita Persaud’s bike that was blown into a trench when the gale started <dl class="gallery-item"><dt class="gallery-icon">
</dt><dd class="gallery-caption"> The state of Angela Bess’ verandah after the storm had passed </dd></dl><dl class="gallery-item"><dt class="gallery-icon">
</dt><dd class="gallery-caption"> The home of Bank of Guyana’s Nidole Austin in North Ruimveldt </dd></dl><dl class="gallery-item"><dt class="gallery-icon">
</dt>< A flying zinc sheet wrapped around an a high-tension electric wire on Layou Street, North Ruimveldt 