After the heavy rains Situation back to normal in the south and south-west regions |11 May 2021

Mr Pillay

Seychelles experienced heavy rainfall during the weekend and according to the Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM), the main incidents associated with the water induced event were obstructed roads, fallen embankments, structural failures of retaining walls as well as fallen trees and rocks.

Yesterday our journalist toured the south-west part of Mahé to see the damage caused by the heavy rainfall during the weekend. We met Jean Claude Labrosse, principal climate adaptation officer, at Anse à la Mouche who noted that flooding invariably occurs whenever there is a downpour in this area (Anse à la Mouche), mainly at the housing estate. Some guest houses also experienced flooding.

“The authority will keep putting emphasis on the need to respect regulations when doing a construction project. It is important for all of us to abide by the laws in order to avoid similar situations,” Mr Labrosse said.

What are the main issues that cause the flooding? “According to our first preliminary observation, there are various factors that cause the flooding; construction done without adhering to the environment laws, some outlets were blocked by a surge of sand and thirdly our outlets were overwhelmed by the amount of rain that fell. The records show that we received more than 100mm of rain in some areas.”

During the two days, the Ministry of Environment received more than 40 calls coming mainly from the south-east (Anse Aux Pins, Au Cap, Anse Royale) and south-west (Baie Lazare and Anse Boileau) regions.

“Now the Ministry of Environment is looking into what can be done immediately to make sure all outlets are open and water is running smoothly. We will remove the bottlenecks at the outlets and unblock the passage. In the long run there will be other projects where the capacity of the outlets will be increased,” he said.

Talking about the farms, Mr Labrosse noted that many farms located on flat land were damaged due to the flooding. “We have also noticed some issues which we raised with the farmers and we are already in talks with the farmers to see how we can work together to tackle these.”

Mr Labrosse noted that by 1.30pm on Sunday the situation was getting under control and they will work in close collaboration with other institutions and organisations to help contain the issue.

“Flooding is something we cannot predict. We have a cleaning programme and we will make sure we implement it. The good news is that we did not encounter situations where the water outlets were blocked by garbage. This shows that the population is being educated on the need to keep rivers clear from litter.”

In the afternoon, Selvan Pillay, director general of the Climate Change and Energy department informed the press that discussion is ongoing between various organisations/institutions on the way forward to minimise the damage after a flooding.

“The discussion is at an advanced level and plans will be made public soon. Due to some budget restraints some projects that we has planned could not be realised. But we are also urging the public to take their responsibility to treat the rivers properly and do not throw garbage in them. We work in collaboration with various agencies and we hope to bring more long-term solutions to this issue. We already note that this time Anse Royale and Pointe Larue did not suffer that much.”

From Saturday 7am to Monday 7am, the Seychelles Meteorological Authority (SMA) recorded 349.4mm of rain at Anse Boileau only. Other areas in the south west region also recorded more than 150mm of rain in that time.

Text & photos by Vidya Gappy