The Guyana Flood Website

 Report for January 20th 2005

Guyana is a disaster zone and the photos below will speak for themselves. I left my home in waist deep water and  traveled up the East Coast today and captured these scenes of the flooded out villages of Industry and Ogle. The hardship faced by villagers is almost unspeakable, I saw people literally begging for food items all along my trip and this is only day three into the flooding. The people are desperate and many said that they had not eaten anything at all for the day. Guyana needs as much help as she can get and I beg on behalf of my countrymen and women for any assistance that can be given to us.

The amount of water that is on the land is simply incredible and it makes one wonder if the tiny pumps will be able to move this quantity of water in the very near future. I caught up my former Grasstrack racing teammate Sheik Yassen and we headed up the coast to have a closer look at the man made disaster that had engulfed Guyana. Why do I call this disaster man made? Well if you neglect the kokers and the canals and you don't see it fit to have a garbage disposal system in place, then when the rain comes and the place becomes flooded, what else can one call it?

The people in charge of the drainage and irrigation board of this country should all be fired for incompetence and neglect of their duties. They are the ones who are being paid to make sure that the drainage canals in this country, which happens to be six feet below sea level, is always kept in working order.

After visiting Ogle and Industry, I joined up with Dr. Lionel Hanoman and company and ventured into the back of Cummings Lodge and Sophia squatting areas. The plight of these less fortunate Guyanese seems more severe than in other areas I had visited earlier. Imagine having to endure this terrible flood in the pitch blackness of night as these areas have no electricity or potable water. Imagine having to almost swim out to reach the only access road. Imagine having to walk through neck deep water which happens to be infested with snakes and Caimans. The suffering of the people of Guyana is beyond explaining, maybe these photos will give you an idea of how miserable the conditions are in these flooded out villages.

Our house at 1.30PM this afternoon as I left for this trip	The new CARICOM Complex, the damage there must be extensive.	Third Street, Cummings Lodge	First Street Cummings Lodge	People heading to higher ground on this donkey cart
This school was being used as a medical center	Folks heading for medical help	Every method to get around was being utilised	This fella was building this house higher to get out of the water	The congested embankment highway
Japarts Auto Store was sharing out foodstuff in this truck	The flooded road into Industry	People coming out to the Japarts food truck	Min Sheik Bashk on the East Coast	Industry Village
Industry village	A flooded road in Industry	A lonely flooded road on the East Coast	4x4s or boats, the only way to get around	Beharry's Nando gardens under water
The cows took to higher ground on the East Coast highway	The water at Better Hope Village	Boats at the Better Hope Village entrance	This is actually the East Coast Highway	A sea of water to deal with
East Coast Highway	East Coast Highway	East Coast Highway	The burial ground at Plaisance	A Courida Park street
A shop along the Ogle road flooded out	Banks DIH played a very vital part in the distribution of water and other stuff to people here	"Pradoville" did not escape the flood water	We saw this boat stranded on this sea of water	And it turned out to be the Commissioner of Inland Revenue Kurdish Sattuar
Maybe he should have bought a Yamaha instead	Kurdish finally off and away	A "Pradville" house under water	Former Minister Navin Chanderpaul checking the flood water	"This is where I will be heading if this water gets any higher"
A raft in Ogle	The Ogle Masjid flooded out	The sitting room of Grasstrack ace Sheik Yassen flooded out	The Ogle community Center	Its a good thing that this grasstrack event was since last year.
Sheik Yassen leading the way into the flooded Ogle ground	The pavilion partly submerged	Now this is not a lake but actually the Ogle ground	Cheddie Jagan street in industry	Ogle's main street under 2 1/2 feet of water
this Cafe along UG road will not be open for business for a while	This guy was seated comfortably as he made his rounds	The entrance to the University of Guyana	The campus under threat	The UG Campus was reachable only by boat today
Definitely no classes will be held here for a while	Kids coming out to meet the relief team headed by Dr. Lionel Hanoman	Ad-man Bernard Ramsey and other members of the relief team watches on	People coming out to receive assistance	This look on this lady's face makes you want to cry. Do you see the child next to her?
Stanley Mack handing food to residences of Sophia	Another shot of the UG campus	This bus shows how deep the water really is in Sophia	Food items loaded up and heading back in	Shot of a road in Sophia
Not only is it deep but you have to look out for crocodiles	Water waist high in Sophia and this was the shallow part	The only way to get around in Sophia	Makeshift boats of all descriptions was the order of the day	UG Campus as you have never seen it before
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Cyril Potter Collage under water	The guard hut of the Cyril Potter Collage	People of Cummings Lodge under pressure