As the 2023 rainy season builds up, residents of Bamboo Village, Valsayn, Kelly Village, and St Helena are determined to pro-actively prepare for any potential disasters after enduring the devastating floods of 2022.
The haunting memories of the destruction and displacement caused by the previous year's torrential downpours have propelled these communities into action, as they strive to safeguard their homes, livelihoods, and loved ones against the unpredictable forces of nature.
While some plan to take action to mitigate the impact of future calamities, other residents have just decided to “take it as it come.”
None of the residents with whom Sunday Newsday spoke to had any intention of moving. For them, the community has become part of them, as has the flooding.
In 2022, hundreds of residents in these areas were devastated when their homes and property were damaged by flood waters.
[caption id="attachment_1021706" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Appliances damaged in past floods at a home on Madras Road, St Helena. - Anisto Alves[/caption]
But for the 2023 rainy season, locals say they are rallying together and implementing somewhat of a broad strategy to ensure their resilience in the face of any unexpected adversity.
Kamraj Ramgoolie of Madras Road St Helena told Sunday Newsday, “If the master (God) says rain comes and you have to get flood then go with the flow. That’s my story."
Before the meteorological office declared the start of the 2023 rainy season, Ramgoolie said he has been moving smaller items to higher grounds.
“Let me honest with you, we really cannot prepare nothing. Whether we plan or not the water will come up on use suddenly and by the time it reach up it catch us off guard and that’s it. We can’t save anything.
“We still have one or two things downstairs still. To shoot up with those things one time it’s too much. When the water start to raise we will see what we can do.”
Usually, Ramgoolie would use his farm tractor to take supplies around the community when the flooding is bad. But he said it’s engine was damaged in floodwaters some years ago, and it now remains parked under a tarpaulin cover. In the same area, black mould forms between piles of clothes thrown on chairs. Sunday Newsday was told these were damaged in last year’s – and years before – floods, along with several other appliances left around the yard.
“Girl I lost everything in my house last year. My bed, washing machine, stove fridge, just name it cupboard, and carpet everything. The money I got from Social Development (Ministry) it can’t even buy two pounds of nails.
He was able to replace his stove and washing machine less than two months ago.
“My fridge shorting out and the money they gave me cannot buy a fridge. I have to go by the fridge man and see how he can fix it. I can’t even do that right now.”
Every year, when it floods, his property which sits on the bank of a river, is one of the first homes to flood.
There are two make-shift homes in the yard owned by two of his sons. Together, th
