Seychelles battles severe flooding and landslides |05 March 2024
Mr Cetoupe (Photo: Joena Meme)
- Vice-President Afif coordinates mitigation efforts
Seychelles recorded a total of 112 cases of flooding, rockslides and landslides from Friday till Sunday, in the central and northern parts of Mahé.
These were mostly concentrated in the districts of St Louis, Mont Buxton, English River, Perseverance, Anse Etoile and Glacis. Anse Etoile recorded the highest number – a total of 65 cases.
The figures were revealed by Daniel Cetoupe, chief risk management officer of the Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD), when giving an update on the recent heavy rainfall in the country.
During the media debriefing at the DRMD headquarters in Mont Fleuri, Mr Cetoupe confirmed that excess amounts of rain were recorded at both the Ma Constance and La Gogue stations.
Ma Constance recorded 228.5 millimetres of rain compared to its long term average of 193.5, whereas the La Gogue station received 196.9 mm, compared to its long-term average of 177.2 mm.
Over the weekend, all responding agencies coordinated with their respective districts under the umbrella of the National Emergency Operations Centre to address the different cases and DRMD supported them with resources, said Mr Cetoupe
Heavy rain affected several roads, mainly in Mont Buxton, English River and Anse Etoile. According to DRMD, Mont Buxton had 11 cases, English River reported 23 while Anse Etoile had a staggering 65 cases.
Fewer cases were reported in Glacis which had eight, St Louis with three and Perseverance with two cases.
With regard to the boulder that blocked part of the road in Dan Lenn, Mont Buxton, Mr Cetoupe explained that work had to be done as fast as possible to remove it and facilitate public access but reparations of the road are still underway.
“This is not something that will instantly return to normal quickly, but a good part has been done,” he stated.
Meanwhile work to remove a hazardous boulder in Le Niole, which started recently, was put on hold last Friday for further assessments over the weekend, said Mr Cetoupe.
According to him, the place was stable and it was advised that other security measures will be put in place to allow the work to continue.
Regular flooding during heavy rainfall has also led to people questioning the efficiency of the drainage systems across the country.
“In extreme events, our development during the urbanization times, our drainage network was made for a certain volume of water. With climate change, we are getting more rain in the past 24 hours than we are getting in a month and even incidents such as the December 7, where we experienced similar scenarios,” explained Mr Cetoupe.
He said there should be a review of the country’s drainage system including how to make the infrastructure more resilient.
Another concern relates to the enforcement of planning regulations, which he said are often overlooked by the public.
“When we do not adhere to these regulations that is where you will see walls collapse. New developments are destroyed in seconds. The long-term implication of climate change is something that should be incorporated in the development of a country.”
Meanwhile on Praslin, despite experiencing rain and wind, the island was not affected by bad weather, while La Digue recorded sporadic flooding in low-lying areas.
The weekend’s reports were shared with Vice-President Ahmed Afif yesterday morning during a debriefing at the English River district administration to give an overview of the various cases of flooding, rockslides and landslides and the short, medium and long-term mitigation measures that needs to be put in place to reduce the risk of such events affecting the country.
Sunny Esparon