Suriname on flood alert due to heavy rains
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| Published on Friday, March 13, 2009 |
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By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: While the rainy season is not expected until mid-April torrential rains have been lashing Suriname relentlessly since Sunday, resulting in massive traffic jams and forcing shops, offices, businesses and schools in the capital Paramaribo to close due to severe inundation.
Also public transportation was disrupted, with drivers refusing to do their usual routes, leaving scores of passengers stranded. According to the Meteorology Service the bad weather is caused by disturbances in the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone above Suriname.
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A motorist navigates Wednesday through a flooded street in Kwatta a residential area just south of the capital Paramaribo.
Photo: Ivan Cairo |
The districts of Paramaribo, Commewijne and Saramacca especially were severely hit, while rivers in the remote interior are swelling. Authorities are closely monitoring a so-called ‘early warning system’ in the hinterlands, which was established after the severe flooding in those areas in 2006.
The weather service reports that, on Wednesday, over 110 millimeters of rain was registered, while on Monday 91.5 millimeters was registered. Meanwhile the Boven-Suriname River has risen some 70 centimeters above normal levels with residents recalling the 2006 floods on high alert.
Since motorists were unable to distinguish canals and inundated streets from each other, over a dozen cars ended up in canals.
In one incident several young men had to dive into a canal to rescue a couple and their baby. Motorists were forced to stay for hours in slowly moving lines navigating carefully through inundated roads. So far no casualties have been reported.
According to meteorologist Roël Oehlers the rains will continue until the weekend. Oehlers warned that authorities are keeping a close watch on the Amer-indian villages of Palumeu and Kwamalasemutu in southern Suriname, where water levels are rising as well as near the maroon village of Drietabiki close to the border with French Guiana.
Minister of Public Works, Ganeshkoemar Kandhai, toured several affected areas and told journalists that, while all the drainage pumps were in operation, the systems were unable to process the deluge in time. He maintained, however, that the government is seeking finances to upgrade the drainage in the country since it seems highly inadequate due to poor maintenance and expansion of residential areas.
Sieuwnath Naipal from the University of Suriname noted that, although the situation isn’t alarming as yet, if the rains continue at current levels it will deteriorate. In 2006 several thousand residents in the interior fled their homes while the government requested international assistance to cope with the disaster. | | | | Reads : 1223 | | | |
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