Flood washes away gardens, foot bridges

By ELIAS LARI
FOOD gardens and four traditional foot bridges at River Walta in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, were washed away by flash flooding following heavy rain last Tuesday.
A total of 30 people have lost all their food gardens while foot bridges built by the locals to connect Kunai Grass village with the rest of Mt Hagen were swept away.
This is the second disaster experienced in the same area following a hail storm on last Christmas Day.
Flood victim Anna Tiki said they were at home and heard a big noise, but as they ran to see, they saw the water rise some metres and watched helplessly as their gardens were covered.
Tiki said most of the entire village had most of its food gardens along the river banks.
She said the majority of the villagers depended on farming activities to make a living.
“Natural disasters are becoming very common nowadays in Mt Hagen and most of us did not experience one for a very long time,” she said.
Tiki said the climate was becoming unpredictable and the flood came as a shock.
“With the Covid-19 issue in the country, most of us are depending on our gardens to make a living.”
She said the villagers would need assistance from the government through its disaster offices.
Provincial disaster coordinator Robin Yakamb could not be reached for comment yesterday.