Freak storm rips through Upper Corentyne leaving $$$ in damages

     …topples several homes in Black Bush

By Leon Suseran and Leonard Gildarie

Light poles down at No. 61 Village

Mother Nature unleashed her fury yesterday, sweeping across the Upper Corentyne area, leaving millions of dollars in damages behind in what was described as a freak storm consisting of high winds.

The hardest hit areas were Corriverton, Kiltearn, Number 61 Village and Black Bush Polder. The storm, which began around midmorning, was accompanied by a heavy downpour of rain, pounding much of Berbice, which lasted for more than an hour.

During a visit to the areas, this newspaper observed the roofs of several houses were blown off, electrical poles pulled down and trees uprooted, in what has been termed the worst freak storm in a very long time in Berbice.

The storm forced the Guyana Power & Light Inc (GPL) to shut down power in various parts along the Corentyne.

Up to press time, much of the Upper Corentyne area, the entire Yakusari and neighbouring Polders were without electricity, and could be without same in the coming days.

A resident of Number 61 Village described what she saw.

“When I looked through the window, I see like all the coconut trees were coming down and going up, like breeze, we were scared, the zinc was knocking all over the place and we were really scared about it, and all the posts come down suddenly so, and with the hard wind, it took the roof off the house,” she noted.

A little further up the road, the shed from a building was torn off, while a large tree in the backyard of a resident of Number 61 Village was uprooted. Another electrical pole was smack centre of the road along Kiltearn Village, Corentyne causing motorists and other road users to proceed with caution.

Dado Poonai, who lost a few zinc sheets from his roof, stated that his breadfruit and other trees were all uprooted.

Describing what he saw as “the roof flying like a bird flying gone,” he talked about the house next door to him which lost its entire roof.

Black Bush Damage

Residents of Black Bush Polder, mainly from the Yakusari and Johanna Polders, were crying out for assistance yesterday when this news team visited.

Mookesh Sagadeo of Yakusari North, lost his roof, too. He is the sole occupant of the house and he was just returning home from the market when he made the startling discovery.

Another resident of Yakusari said that she, her husband and six-month-old baby lost their roof, too. “The roof fly out by itself with the breeze—around 12 o’ clock time,” she added.

But perhaps one of the more notable stories out of yesterday’s storm came out of Michelle Singh of Lot 7, Yakusari, whose two daughters were nearly crushed to death as their wooden home was blown off its posts. The other daughter was with her grandmother at the time.

Singh told this newspaper that she had left two of her daughters at home and attended church.

“Two of my daughters were sitting on the steps and when I was coming back I saw the house falling down and I ain’t see my two children.”

The girls managed to jump from the step in the nick of time, “and I started to scream because I knew I left the two of them on the steps and I was not seeing them.”

The mother was relieved when she subsequently saw her daughters, Ashlee, 12, and Natalie, 9, alive.

The single parent broke down in tears as she counted her losses. She is currently staying at her mother’s place next door.

“I still thank God that I come and see these two children safe because imagine my goat was under the bottom house and the house smashed it into the earth, it died.”

Region Six Chairman, David Armogan, speaking via telephone last evening, said he visited the Upper Corentyne areas to assess the damages.

“Quite a few posts fall down in the Corentyne…a lot of people’s zinc sheets get blown away and trees [uprooted]. Eighteen zinc sheets were blown off at Johanna Primary School…Corriverton Market lost thirty zinc sheets,” he told Kaieteur News.

“We haven’t been able to assess the real damage in Black Bush Polder… we will go in there tomorrow [Monday] to see what assistance we can render for the people who suffered damages.”

It should be noted that millions of dollars were invested into the establishment of the National Weather Watch Centre at Timehri, equipping that site with a costly modern Radar which was supposed to have enhanced Guyana’s weather- reporting capability. However, Berbicians were not informed about any such possible weather as was experienced yesterday. Kaieteur News was unable to reach an official at the Weather Watch Centre for a comment.