Teams from the National Works Agency (NWA) are now in communities in Portland and St. Mary seeking to have corridors reopened, resulting from heavy rains over the last 48 hours.
Manager, Communication and Customer Services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw says that several communities in both parishes have been affected by flooding, washed down silt, scoured surfaces and collapsed retaining walls.
In Portland, the main road between Hope Bay and the Rio Grande Bridge is inundated in the vicinity of the Sommerset Falls. Operators of vehicles are being advised to be extremely careful in using this corridor, as vehicles could stall in the body of water leading to lives being put at risk. Washed down silt is affecting the roadway from Boundbrook to St. Margaret’s Bay in the vicinity of Snow Hall, while the corridor from Schoolhouse Corner to Chepstowe has been severely scoured.
The NWA has also received reports of landslides affecting the main road from Durham Gap to Hope Bay. Officers are now trying to ascertain the extent of this situation. The Forty Acres parochial road is also being impacted by flooding, due to blocked drains.
In St. Mary, the main road between Jacks River and Little Bay in the vicinity of Jacks River is now impassable, as is the case with the corridor from Trinity to Little Bay. Heavy equipment is currently being used to regain access to this corridor which is being impacted by fallen trees.
Mr. Shaw says that the Mason Hall roadway at Days Mountain is also impassable after flood waters severely scoured the road, leaving deep trenches that cannot be manouerved by motorists.
Sections of the Airy Hill road that leads to Mason Hall have also been destroyed by flood waters.
The main road from Little Bay to Spring Head is also impassable at this time, due to the collapse of a retaining wall. Sections of this corridor have also been badly scoured leaving chasms up to 15 feet deep.
Mr. Shaw says the NWA officers in the region are monitoring the situation in the various communities and have initiated response procedures in order to minimize the inconveniences to affected persons.
