National Emergency Operations Centre in warning to those in low-lying areas

The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) is advising businesses and residents in low lying areas to take necessary precautions, including moving furniture, equipment and valuable resources to higher ground and placing of sandbags, a release from the NEOC said yesterday.

A team from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority conducting assessments along the East Coast of Demerara (NEOC photo)
A team from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority conducting assessments along the East Coast of Demerara (NEOC photo)

This warning comes as a result of predictions made by the National Weather Watch Centre, which said that Coastal and low lying areas are likely to experience moderate to heavy showers, frequent rain and thundershowers which are likely to result in flooding.  This situation comes as a result of a predicted interaction between a Tropical Wave and the Inter-Tropical Zone, which could have occurred yesterday.

The release said that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) continues to respond by having teams in place at key pumps, kokers and sluices, whilst engineers are on the conservancy monitoring the situation. Additionally, water is being released from the Conservancy via the Hope Canal and Land of Canaan.

A similar posture of readiness was demonstrated by the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and the Ministry of Public Health who indicated that assessments teams are on standby to head into the fields, and emergency supplies are being sourced for distribution.