The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

TORRENTIAL rains over the weekend left residents of Pinewood Gardens frustrated and calling for a proper drainage system.

Rashad Smith told The Tribune that his family went to bed on Friday night, only to wake up Saturday morning to find 80 percent of their six-bedroom home flooded. They used buckets, towels, and anything they could find to remove the water, but despite their efforts, the house will take a few days to dry out, and some furniture was completely water-damaged.

With the water levels rising inside the house, Mr Smith said his family decided to cut off all the breakers to prevent the risk of electrocution.

“You have to shut off everything until you dry up most of the water, and then you can turn the power back on. So, you’re in a house full of water, with no fan, no air conditioning, and you can’t charge your phone,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith, who has lived in Pinewood Gardens for 30 years, described the flooding as a “terrible” but familiar problem. He said his family experiences massive flooding three to four times a year and has tried various methods to elevate the house to prevent it. He urged the government to be proactive rather than reactive in addressing the flooding issue, calling for a proper drainage system.

“They can help with the drainage after the fact, but we need something to prevent it from happening because the damage is already done.”

When The Tribune visited Pinewood Gardens yesterday, parts of the area were severely flooded due to heavy rainfall of 4.5 to 6 inches from Friday night to Saturday. Some residents’ homes were difficult to access because of the water pooling in front of their yards.

Seth Hamilton said his family’s home was built on a raised foundation, but many other homes on lower foundations were inundated. He noted that some parts of the neighbourhood were flooded up to six inches from overnight rainfall.

Although Mr Hamilton’s home did not experience flooding inside, the backyard was flooded due to its lower elevation. His family’s construction company had to cancel a job on Saturday because the heavy rainfall made it impossible to access their work truck in the backyard, resulting in a loss of up to $1,000.

Mr Hamilton echoed the call for a proper drainage system, noting that many people were unable to attend church on Sunday because their cars stalled in the water.

Aaron Smith, a resident of Cascarilla, Pinewood Gardens, said the water in front of his house was so high that he could barely walk through it. He described this as the worst flooding the area has seen in years.

Some residents use well pumps instead of being connected to the Water and Sewerage Corporation system. Mr Smith pointed out that the standing water affects the water table, with debris, dead animals, and other harmful substances potentially contaminating it.

Residents have to add chlorine to their well water to purify it from contaminants caused by flooding.

Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs Clay Sweeting acknowledged that major flooding occurred in many areas of New Providence. He said the Downtown area quickly subsided in the area where his ministry performed major drainage and culvert work a few months ago.

Mr Sweeting said pump trucks were dispatched to severely affected areas such as Pinewood, areas off East Street, and other communities.

“We will continue to pump throughout the day to help reduce the water in the severely impacted communities,” he told The Tribune. “We have already pumped tens of thousands of gallons of water out of these neighbourhoods.”

Mr Sweeting added that his ministry is working on creating a program to mitigate flooding.

“As announced during my budget communication, we are looking at a major flood mitigation and risk programme that can not only initiate a fast response team, as communities have seen today, but also implement efforts to mitigate flooding in areas where we can. We will continue to clean drains and install new ones where practicable.”