Sea wall section collapses in high tide
SOME 40 feet of the sea wall collapsed yesterday at Vigilance, East Coast Demerara, amid high tides along the coast. Residents in the area said the wall broke at about 04:30 hrs during the high tide and resulted in flooding during the day. The flood waters were beginning to recede late yesterday afternoon. The area leading across a dam to the entrance to homes in Vigilance North was under water. In an attempt to contain the steady flow of water, villagers dug two drains at the eastern and southern sections of the dam to divert it to a trench. Resident Mr Alphonso Moffatt said whenever there is a breach in the sea wall, citizens suffer loss of cattle and agricultural produce since the salt water damages the soil. However, he said on this occasion there had been no losses as yet because of quick action to control the flood waters. He was optimistic the situation will return to normalcy by today because the tide will drop. Moffatt explained that whenever there are spring tides and heavy winds there is overtopping at the seawall. Workers from the Sea Defence unit visited the area yesterday to assess the situation and are expected to return today to mend the breach. There were other reported breaches on the East Coast Demerara, including Mon Repos, Lusignan, Friendship, Buxton and Victoria which were also caused by excessive high tides.
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