Land reclamation protects Mahe from worst tidal wave impact |28 December 2004

Transport principal secretary Gerard Lafortune, one of the members of the National Disaster Committee, made the comment at State House Monday December 27 after the committee met to assess the damage from waves triggered by an earthquake near Indonesia measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale.

PS Lafortune said the east coast land reclamation, which is 2.5 metres above sea level, acted as a barrier between the tidal waves and Mahe's coastline and protected densely populated districts from Anse Etoile to Cascade.

“As a result, compared to the South and southwest coast, flooding on the east coast was minimal," Mr Lafortune said.
The water that managed to penetrate through to the coast, he added, did so mainly through existing bridges, which suffered substantial damage from the intensity of the waves.

Mr Lafortune said as a result of damages to roads and related infrastructure such as bridges, as well as to facilities at the fishing port, there would be disruptions in the transport and maritime services in the country.

Most of the domestic facilities at the fishing port – from the Seychelles Fishing Authority to Oceana Fisheries – have been disabled, and what is usable could only cater for smaller vessels, PS Lafortune said.

Ferry services like Cat Cocos, which were grounded on Sunday as a result of severe and unusual low tides and tidal surges, were restored as of Monday morning.

"Cargo vessels off the port had not been permitted to enter the harbour, because there is still risk that they run aground or hit corals with the tidal surges,” PS Lafortune explained. “If that happens it can lead to a more serious situation with the vessels sinking and further blocking the port."

The tuna fishing fleet, he said, had been displaced from the inner to outer harbour to safe anchorage.
PS Lafortune said once the tidal surges subside the port will resume normal operations.

The harbours on Praslin and La Digue did not suffer significant damages and both were operational, he said.
However, there has been extensive damage to road infrastructure on Mahe and Praslin. The bridge at Roche Caiman has collapsed and severe damage has been sustained to the one at Providence, resulting in the closure of the highway from the International Airport through Roche Caiman to Victoria.

With the collapse of the Roche Caiman bridge, a number of pipes have been damaged, including PUC's desalination and sewage pipes, a pipe that carries fuel for planes from Sepec to the International Airport and telecommunication cables.

The bridge at Providence is expected to be repaired by Wednesday December 29 (morning), and the reconstruction of the Roche Caiman bridge is due to be completed by the end of this week.

In the meantime, there will be severe disruptions in traffic flow as from today and in the days to come.

PS Lafortune appealed to all drivers to avoid parking along the road at Cascade as it would be the only road linking the South to Victoria.

"We ask all drivers to be patient and bear with us as we will be working continuously to re-open the East Coast road as soon as possible," he said.

An SPTC shuttle service will be provided for residents in the Kosovo village in Roche Caiman, whose access to Victoria had been cut off with the collapse of the bridge. They will have to access town through Petit Paris.

Repair work was being carried out Monday afternoon on the country’s main road, which had sustained damage at Anse a la Mouche in the vicinity of Anchor Café, where a bridge had also been washed away.  The road is expected to be ready for use by Tuesday December 28 in the morning.

During the course of this week work will continue to remove debris from roads in several areas of Mahe, Praslin and La Digue.
On Praslin there has been major damage to the road at Calbassier where a bridge has been washed away, isolating the residents of Anse Boudin, Zimbabwe and Anse Lazio from the rest of Praslin. 

As of Monday the Land Transport Divison began transporting culverts from Mahe to Praslin for emergency repairs, and road access in the area is expected to be restored over the next two days. 

The repair of all bridges, Mr Lafortune said, would however depend on how fast the tidal surges subside.

An exercise to assess the cost of the damage to road networks and maritime facilities is under way. Divers will be sent to the port area to assess the extent of damage to facilities there.

Electricity, which was disrupted deliberately as a security measure to protect power generators, were expected to have been restored by late yesterday afternoon. Businesses from Kingsgate House up to the Indian Ocean Tuna factory were without electricity for over 24 hours since Sunday afternoon, said the managing director of PUC electricity, Philippe Morin. He said there has been no reports of power supply problems on Praslin and La Digue.