By Charminae George
While oversaturation of the earth and topography the shape of the land contributed to the flooding in some communities over the weekend, specific human activities also contributed to the occurrence, according to the Director of the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS), Sherrod James.
“What did contribute to it also was a longstanding problem that we see; we have dumping of rubbish and debris. When these things clog up the drains, the waters rise and flood a number of areas,” he stated.
“Certain activities, for example, people clearing the land; the debris that they have, sometimes it’s dumped in indiscriminate areas. It looks fine when it is dry but the wind and the water always takes it somewhere,” James explained.
Areas in St Paul’s Parish, specifically near the Liberta Police Station, as well as Yorks Village on the outskirt of St John’s, experienced flooding as a result of these practices, the NODS Director said.
Another destructive action, he added, was the filling in of drains to allow heavy machinery to access a plot of land.
“They want to get some heavy equipment across and what they would do is fill in the drains so the equipment can drive across … and they are not clearing it out. So that stops there and becomes an impediment and so the water backs up and affects the community,” he said.
Unpruned trees on personal property also contribute to blockage of waterways, he added.
“There are trees on [the land] and they are not pruning them. So, the trees are now growing into utility lines and then when the winds come, they damage them and then we have impacts,” James stated.
Additionally, the NODS director urged the public to bear in mind the questions, ‘what will happen when the wind and the rain comes and is it going to affect persons movement and livelihood in any way’, in everyday actions as “individual actions have communal consequences”.
