Weise Road wary of river’s fury
Published:Wednesday | June 8, 2022 | 12:11 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Days into the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, residents of Weise Road in Bull Bay, St Andrew, are reiterating desperate pleas for the repair of a damaged culvert and the shoring up of the Chalky River with gabion baskets.
They insist that the accidental excavation of a concrete bank at a section of the river is to blame for storm-induced floods that swamped the eastern Jamaica community over the last two years.
The residents fear that the riverbanks, currently packed with dirt, could be breached should major flood rains pound Weise Road again.
Among those most concerned is recording artiste IVoltage.
He said that a new concrete wall had to be constructed at the front of his yard to mitigate the risk of future flooding.
“The original wall weh did de de before, di river come kick weh dat, cover it down, cover all dis house with sand, stone and mud,” he told The Gleaner, recounting the nightmarish deluges that filled homes with silt.
A new perimeter wall was also built at the front of his house.
Another resident said that he and other householders sought to reposition boulders near the damaged culvert but they were stopped by government authorities. Damaged furniture still holds painful memories of the severe weather event.
“It flood out di whole a my place, mas up, nearly wash weh mi daughter [and] no groyne never go back there. Just normal dirt back up,” the resident, who asked that his name not be published, said.
He has started digging an area to create new perimeter fencing to protect his yard, but is short on funds to finance that project. His house, which he abandoned after the last flood, is also unfinished.
Hopes for intervention, though, appear to be dashed.
In a brief interview with The Gleaner on Monday, Stephen Shaw, manager of communication and customer services at the National Works Agency, said he is “not aware of any mitigation work to be done in that particular area”.
Meanwhile, Marsha Smart, who also lives on Weise Road, is wringing her hands – half in hope, half in fear – with a new hurricane season here.
Though classified as a dry river, the Chalky River can swiftly turn into a monster waterway if flood rains descend.
Weather forecasters predict that 14 to 21 named storms could emerge this year, with as many as 10 potentially becoming hurricanes.
“I am hoping and praying that they will come and fix the groyne, especially the part that was burst. It open more than once, so if the rain constantly fall, as in 2020, we are going to get an overflow again from the river,” Smart told The Gleaner.
Smart has praised major contractors China Harbour Engineering Company for rehabilitation works at the mouth of the river, but stressed that silt could still cause blockages.