Flooding not as bad as expected

Monday’s flooding in The City as a result of heavy showers could have been worse, if not for an improved drainage system.

Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams related to members of the media today, following a tour of flooded areas in Bridgetown and the immediate surrounding areas, that residents, particularly at Murphy’s Pasture, pointed out that “with the amount of rain that they got, had the improvements not been done the houses would have washed away and people would have been evacuated”.

He said the two inches of rainfall that accumulated within half an hour at Murphy’s Pasture receded in quick time, preventing a serious flooding situation.

“Had it not been for the extensive works that were done to alleviate flooding in those same problem areas, last night would have been a lot worse. It was really an aggressive, intense shower and the flooding could not have been avoided,” Abrahams said.

“We went with the Prime Minister, we toured  the pump house, we toured out there by Pelican Village, we went down to the Bayland and a lot of the traditional areas that flood very badly and retain the water. Although they may have experienced some challenges with the flooding, the water ran off very quickly,” he added.

However, the Home Affairs Minister said there was still work to be done to alleviate flooding in various parts of the island. He pointed out that one issue that must be addressed is the screens at the pump house at Pelican Village that are blocked with plastic bottles and other debris.

He said officials at the Drainage Division have informed him that they often receive reports of flooding in the area of that same pump house, which is resolved swiftly at times by just removing a bag of garbage.

“There is an area where the water is channelled through out there by Chefette in Fontabelle as well. Go and look down there; two young men were there pulling bottles, grass and debris off the screens. What happens is the water comes down the channel and it meets these vertical bars. The vertical bars are to prevent the debris from going through the system and out into the sea. It is like a strainer; if you are straining something and the strainer gets clogged, sometimes you have to take the spoon and move it for the juice to come through,” he explained.

Abrahams said members of the public must be more responsible in the disposal of their garbage. He warned that if Barbadians do not properly manage their waste disposal and are not careful about how they throw away bottles and plastic, the issue of flooding would recur.

“If you design the best drainage system and people throw bottles down it, and throw plastic bags and dump their garbage indiscriminately, it is still going to clog. But I am happy to say that yesterday a lot went right, so the amount of water that fell yesterday, more than two inches in half an hour, we were expecting a lot worse,” he said.

“People were flooded out, that is true, but the water ran off quickly and nobody had to be evacuated from Murphy’s Pasture. When I went down there with the Prime Minister, the Barbados Defence Force was down there with their boat expecting to have to evacuate people. The Fire Service was there expecting to have to assist people but the water ran off pretty quickly.”

Abrahams indicated that officials expected flooding in Speightstown, St Peter, but there was none because the engineering work that the Drainage Division and the Ministry of Public Works have been doing has been effective.

The Barbados Meteorological Services issued a flash flooding warning for Barbados between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Monday. A flash-flood warning is issued when rapid flooding due to heavy or excessive rainfall in a short period of time, generally less than six hours, is imminent in the warning area.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb