People warned to expect hail, floods

 By PIUS MON

THE people of Western Highlands have been urged to take care when moving around in light of the unpredictable weather patterns currently experienced in the Highlands.

The new provincial disaster coordinator, Pias Kar issued the warning this week after receiving various disaster related reports in the province on the last few weeks.

Kar said natural disasters strike anytime of the day and people must be on alert, both day and night during times of heavy rain, thunder, lighting and strong winds.

He said the province was experiencing a lot of heavy rain with strong wind and hailstorm with ice falls at the moment, adding that his office was only doing assessments at the moment.

Kar, who is also responsible for national functions programmes for the province, said people must be prepared to help each other during times of natural disaster and not to go after the 

disaster centre on minor matters.

He added that it was now becoming a norm for people to take a small damage of food and coffee garden by heavy rainfall as disasters, adding that this should not be the practice unless it is life threatening.

He said his office had received numerous reports of hailstorms, flooding, and strong winds or cyclone with destructions to food and coffee gardens, houses, and domesticated animals from various districts.