Heavy rains - Traffic hampered by flooded roads, broken electricity pole at La Misère |18 October 2019

Heavy downpours and dark clouds have covered most parts of Seychelles over the past few days and weeks.

While most days have been marred by rains without any major incidents, the Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM) was yesterday called to attend to numerous incidents, mainly around the western region of Mahé.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION yesterday afternoon, senior disaster manager Cliff Allissop noted that of the incidents reported and to which DRDM attended, three could be considered as mildly serious.

He clarified that the road at La Misère remained closed (at around 4.30pm at the time of the telephone conversation) as employees of the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) worked to erect a new electricity pole following the breakage of the one which stood there hours earlier.

According to Mr Allissop, the pole appeared to have broken due to wear and tear on its anchor, which is located next to a water source and the large quantity of wires which it supports.

“The electricity pole breaking was not necessarily caused by the weather although the rain could have weakened it further. The anchor was in fact located quite close to a water source so PUC are working and trying to find a suitable location nearby to erect the new pole to prevent such incidents from reoccurring in future,” Mr Allissop noted.

As of yesterday afternoon, it would appear that there was no disruption to electricity supply. Mr Allissop noted that the pole and wires supported by the broken pole are high-voltage wires and of the type used by service providers including Intelvision and Cable and Wireless. The road was blocked while PUC technicians carried out the necessary works.

The department was also called to two incidents in Grand Anse Mahè. In one case, a family was evacuated from their home which was at risk of being flooded. The heavy downpours have washed down debris and blocked drainage systems causing water to accumulate behind their house.

Numerous residents of Grand Anse called in to report what appeared to them to be a broken road. However, Mr Allissop noted that a visit and inspection of the road showed no damage to the road, but rather it was flooded.

At the time of the telephone conversation, he noted that the department was vigilant and would keep monitoring the situation on account that the Seychelles Meteorological Authority (SMA) had warned that heavy rainfall would persist until around 8pm.

The accompanying photos show some of the incidents caused by the heavy rainfall yesterday.