When Cyclone Seroja’s torrential rain and high winds caused damage throughout Timor-Leste last Easter, communities were impacted in different ways. In addition to homes, shops and offices being inundated with water, other vital community infrastructure was also damaged in several places.

In Dili, the Carmelites observed problems with the drains that run along the street where the Carmelite community house is located. The drains were blocked and in general disrepair, which meant they impeded the flood water from flowing away from the neighbourhood, affecting several households in the area.

In Hera, parts of the main road leading to the Carmelite community house were washed away, which is also many local people’s only access to the main road.

This type of road infrastructure damage can take the government a very long time to repair because it is not part of a main thoroughfare, therefore not a high priority. However, the damage still has a significant impact for those local community members who use those roads every day.

With support from Carmel Impact’s emergency flood relief funding, the Carmelites in Dili and Hera worked together with volunteers from the local community to fix the washed away road in Hera and the problem with the drains in Fatuhada, Dili. Some funds were used to purchase large rocks and wire to build a gabion wall that is reinforcing the road in Hera. While other funds were used for cement to rebuild sections of the damaged drains in Fatuhada. Donate here