$800m flood bill

Flood damage in at least six parishes swamped by rains unleashed by the diverting Tropical Storm Elsa has been preliminarily billed at $800 million, but that figure is set to mount as more comprehensive reports stream in, highly placed government sources have revealed.

That price tag is lower than the more than $8 billion in devastation wreaked by the double assault of Eta and Zeta in October and November 2020 which caused colossal damage to the nation’s roads and farms.

Christopher Gordon was among several householders stranded on Monday as the Big Pond in Bannister, St Catherine, flooded sections of the main road, preventing him from attending his cousin’s funeral at a family plot in a neighbouring community.

Gordon did not want to miss the final rites but skipped the funeral for fear that his Honda Stream motor vehicle would sustain significant damage if he tried to plough through the expanse of water.

That dismay was even more emphatic because Jamaicans have been barred from hosting funerals because of COVID-19 gathering restrictions that have taken an emotional toll on hundreds of families. That ban was only relaxed on July 1.

“I feel disappointed, especially since this has been so for decades. From I was a child, every time we have heavy rain, most times we see people have to cross on boat, and recently, we see them dig out the whole area and say them a solve our problem, but we see this come again and block again. So I have to wonder what they did?” he asked.

National Works Agency (NWA) Communication and Customer Services Manager Stephen Shaw said $20 million was spent earlier this year to create a higher embankment and for drainage works.

But despite that investment, the pond still overflowed from the downpour associated with Tropical Storm Elsa, which passed northeast of the island on Sunday.

Shaw said that no commitments had been given that the works would prevent flooding, adding that the agency could only seek to mitigate the effects of acts of nature.

He believes that the devastation in Big Pond would have been worse had the excavation not been done.

There have been mixed views from residents on whether the works, completed in March, have impacted the flood risk that has haunted the community for years. Some householders expressed shock at how quickly they were marooned on Sunday, arguing that it would usually take several days of rain for flooding of that scale.

“People a come and not expecting this,” said Ricardo Banner, who stood along the roadway with other men diverting motorists on to the premises of a business place to avoid stalling in the water.

Banner said he and other residents had watched as several cars got stuck trying to brave the flooded roadway. The drowning of an elderly resident about five years ago is still fresh in their minds.

In another section of the community, residents reported some improvements, saying that they have been marooned in the past for as long as a week.

However, they had hoped that the excavation works by the NWA would have put paid to the recurring flood nightmare.

But Shaw said nothing further could be done until the floodwaters receded naturally. He said that more work is on the cards for the area.

“There is an intention to do some dredging in the location, and even then, I cannot give anybody any assurance to say that we won’t see flooding ... because it depends on several factors, to include the intensity of the rainfall,” he said.

nadine.wilson@gleanerjm.com