OLD GOA
Church property was damaged and livestock killed in floods while priests and their staff were forced to move to safer places on Friday, as floods affected the St Joseph Church in Usgao and a farm belonging to the archdiocese at Velus-Sattari.
The Laudato Si farm belonging to the Diocesan Society at Velus-Sattari was flooded leaving many of the livestocks in the farm dead.
Speaking to The Goan, in-charge of the farm Fr Felix Lobo informed that 40 hens, 17 ducks, 8 pigs and 5 goats perished in the flood.
“Luckily, when the water level receded, two pigs were found alive,” Fr Lobo informed, while stating that rabbits, pigeons, turkey and other birds, were also saved as the water level didn’t reach their enclosures.
Narrating the incident, Fr Lobo informed that the labourers first came to know about the flooding only when water entered in their room at around 5 am, where they were asleep on the floor.
“Immediately, they called me and informed of the incident. When I took stock of the situation, the water level had also risen to around 2 metres in the area where the livestock was kept and we could not go there. So, I told the labourers to first move their belongings and asked them to shift it to my place as nothing could be done to save the livestock,” the priest added.
“The police and the fire brigade officials came and asked us to evacuate. However, we could not decide how to cross over to safer land. That is when I took the two female labourers along with their three children and sped as fast as I could in my car. And I was able to cross to a safer side. The fire brigade officials asked us to take shelter at the bus stand. We cannot go anywhere and are marooned at the bus stand. But the water level is receding rapidly and we should be able to go to Mollem to reside temporarily,” he added.
When questioned on the loss suffered, Fr Lobo said that he cannot put the exact loss incurred in the incident.
Meanwhile, floods also affected the St Joseph Church in Usgao with water entering the church and the benches were seen floating around.
Sources informed that the rooms of the parish priest and assistant parish priest were also flooded with both the priests being forced to shift to a safer place for shelter.
The property of the adjacent St Joseph HS too got flooded with the water level nearly submerging the Bal Rath buses parked inside the compound. Only the roofs of the buses were visible with the surroundings all under water.
