Flooding, cold front leave chilling effect in Hanover

Western Bureau:

Heavy rains that lashed sections of Hanover this week took a heavy toll on the parish, causing major flooding in the OceanPointe Housing Development and land slippage in other areas, including some that were impacted by Hurricane Melissa last October.

The rainfall and flooding, which coincided with the passage of a cold front, were like a double whammy for residents, who were left with very little time to get their lives back in order ahead of a second cold front, which the Meteorological Service has forecast for this weekend.

Flooding in Phase Five and Phase Six at the OceanPointe Housing Development left several homes submerged, with at least five sustaining significant damage to furniture and other household items alongside infrastructure.

Andria Dehaney-Grant, the councillor for the Sandy Bay division in the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), where the OceanPointe Housing Scheme is located, visited the location and said that, based on her observation, the flooding was not a result of blocked drains but infrastructural deficiencies.

“What is needed is infrastructure improvement, because the drains in place are clean, but too small to handle the increased water flow that had resulted from the infrastructure development in that area, especially with an unusual amount of rainfall like what fell,” she told The Gleaner.

Commenting on land slippage in other parts of the parish, Dehaney-Grant pointed out areas such as Maryland and Patty Hill, which she said she plans to visit shortly with the parish manager for the National Works Agency (NWA).

CAUSE OF FLOODING

Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, who is also the chairman of the HMC, said that, based on what he had seen, the general flooding in the parish was not because of unkept drains, but because of the amount of rain that fell over a very short period of time.

“Because of the volume of water that was present yesterday (Thursday), and also because of the fact that the town of Lucea is below sea level, and the tide was very high, there was some amount of flooding within Lucea,” said Samuels. “All drains were cleaned and in order, based on the mitigation work that we are doing at the HMC, but the volume of water was unmanageable.”

While noting that floodwaters ran off very quickly, creating only minor discomfort, Samuels said the drains in Lucea were created many years ago, and with the town’s expansion over the years, the drains are now proving to be inadequate. He said the situation was similar in other areas where new developments are taking place.

“I have spoken to the member of parliament for Hanover Western, Heatha Miller-Bennett, about the drains situation, and she has made some contact with the NWA parish manager, so I am waiting on some further discussions and decisions from them,” he said.

“The condition now is that anytime an unusual amount of rain falls, the town of Lucea will be flooded, especially along Miller’s Drive, and it is not because of blocked drains, but because the drains can only handle a certain volume of water,” he added.

Samuels, looking at land slippage situation between Kew Bridge and Mt Piece, and in Prospect, Rock Spring, and Grange, said the NWA has been notified and he is expecting them to deal with the matter in short order.

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