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by pltm
(PLTM) - The Public Works Department (PWD) is currently still on Jost Van Dyke (JVD) working to bring relief to residents who are being affected by flooding due to heavy downpours.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Works, Anthony McMaster related that a team consisting six persons have been out since this morning, clearing the ghuts and taking the necessary action to ensure that the water recedes.
The flooding, he indicated, has been spread out throughout the island. “It’s basically across the island because most of Jost Van Dyke is basically a hill…but because of the amount of rainfall that they’ve been getting, the water has been coming down through the hillside and through the ghuts. So basically it’s spread out throughout the island,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Director of the Department of Disaster Management (DDM), Ms. Sharleen DaBreo, is optimistic that based on the weather forecast, the worst of the rains has passed. “The system has passed the area, the sun is out. There is the expectation that any ponded areas would improve, that it would drain properly,” she explained.
It should be noted that weather forecasts show that tonight, the BVI can expect partly cloudy to cloudy conditions with a 40 per cent or moderate chance of passing showers.
While the DDM is yet to finalise the data as it relates to how many inches of rainfall the island faced, as well as flooding, Ms. DaBreo stated that based on observation, the terrain of the land as well as blockages in the ghuts would have played a significant role in the accumulation of water.
“We got a heavy downpour, a very steep hillside and narrow coastline…and so the water is going to capture in some areas and then it will take a while to run off. So, it’s a combination of the geology of the area as well as the intensity of the rainfall and I am assuming from the photos that there may have been some blockage in some drains and that’s why the public works team was deployed,” she related.
She lauded the PWD who she said was out very early, trying to aid in reducing the flooding, adding that “When we spoke to the district officer, she had indicated that the teams from Public Works had been deployed very early this morning so they were there. They were clearing any problem areas and the water was running off very quickly. And, we didn’t have any reports of significant problems.”
