November rain brings slight relief |10 November 2017
Rain which has been falling on and off since the beginning of this month has brought some much needed relief to withering vegetations, from the unbearable heat, severely dry weather condition and disconcerting dusty atmosphere but has barely brought any change to the water situation.
According to the Seychelles Meteorological Authority rainfall recorded at the airport and other outstations for the first week of November indicates that only between 25% to 40% of the normal amounts fell.
Only 67.5 millimetres were recorded at the airport for the past seven days and this represent 33% of the normal which is 206 millimetres.
“With poor rainfall received in October it would require a good amount of rain to replenish the rivers in order to store water. The seasonal forecast for October to December indicates a probability that we will receive below to near normal rainfall and it would be wise to take this into consideration when planning for example water storage and other activities that depend on rainfall,” the Met Authority says.
Even though Seychelles NATION had not been able to have anyone from the PUC talk about the situation and confirm if water restrictions it imposed towards the end of last month in certain areas in the southern districts of Mahé like Takamaka and Baie Lazare has been lifted, residents say there has been a slight relief and rivers and streams are flowing again.
“I hope it continues to rain and water increases in the rivers and streams,” one resident of Baie Lazare said.
She noted that where she lives near the police station she did not suffer much from water restrictions even though water pressure was reduced considerably.
She noted that with the rainfall received over the past few days the situation has improved slightly and pressure has increased a little, adding that probably people living higher up are faring better.
Meanwhile a visit to the La Gogue Dam on Wednesday morning did not show much change in water level thus confirming what the Meteorological Authority has said that much more rain is required to make a real difference.