Some 500 South Andros residents were forced to leave their homes after ‘unseasonal’ torrential rains led to massive flooding on Monday.
Residents of Driggs Hill, Congo Town and Long Bay Cays were evacuated after more than two feet of rainfall flooded their low-lying homes and ponds in the area overflowed.
Speaking on national radio Tuesday, South Andros Chief Councillor Norwood Rahming said that he had taken an afternoon tour of the affected areas but had to be assisted by a BEC truck to safely navigate the floodwaters.
“Many of the homes, especially in Driggs Hill are flooded. There are furnitures floating around and people are walking around in the water; however, there has been no injuries thus far,” Mr Rahming reported.
Mr Rahming also advised that some residents had to be evacuated on Monday to other locations, and many of them were staying with family members. He added that additional evacuations were conducted on Tuesday to ensure that all residents of the area were secure.
“Under the leadership of the Administrator, we will have some plans to immediately put into action, but the folks in Driggs Hill area will need some assistance from other sources in Nassau and elsewhere,” he said.
“This kind of flooding is not normal for this time of the year. It happened so quickly. The rain started yesterday [Monday] and overnight, the area was flooded. It has been reported that some water is as high as two feet and over in some parts of the street between Driggs Hill and Long Bay Cays, it is very difficult for traffic to travel the highways in that area,” Mr Rahming reported.
Independent South Andros Member of Parliament, Whitney Bastian, told The Guardian that two disabled women living in Driggs Hill were transported to the old folks home in Kemp’s Bay. He said that persons who were unable to move in with family members were allowed to stay in a Kemp’s Bay hotel at a discounted rate, while others moved in with friends.
Mr Bastian said that he, along with officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as well as four persons from the Ministry of Works, were expected to travel to South Andros today to assess the affected areas.
Contacted by the Guardian, South Andros Administrator Gary Knowles said that he was about to hold an emergency meeting with residents to decide how they could be assisted, in addition to determining some sort of relief plan if there is a storm. Up to press time a call placed to Mr Knowles to find out the outcome of the meeting proved fruitless.
By: TAMARA McKENZIE, The Nassau Guardian
