VI to observe first Flood Protection Awareness Week
Flood Protection Awareness Week will be observed from May 7 to May 11, 2018.
During a press conference on Wednesday May 2, 2018 at the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) conference room located at Simms Mini Mall, Jeremy W. Hodge, Deputy Secretary for the Ministry of Communication and Works, stated that a Hydrology study was conducted during the summer of last year and they wish to share some of the findings with the community to help them reduce flood risks.
Flood Protection Awareness week will be held under the theme “Rebuilding a Flood Resilient Community Together”.
The study was done in Road Town and that plan will be used as a model for other communities.
He explained, “Based on the study, we are here to share with the community the finding of this study and how we can use it to mitigate and reduce flooding risk and damages in our community. The hydrology and reduction study has been active since the summer of 2017 which has provided us with details in understanding the causes of flooding within Road Town. It is now recommending actions that can be used to reduce risk of flooding including a comprehensive programme to clear ghuts and drains. This study serves as a guide for the BVI government as we build our infrastructure.”
“We want to ensure that people have measures in place” - Sharleen S. Dabreo
During her statement at the press conference, Sharleen S. Dabreo, Director for the Department of Disaster Management, emphasised that her team, along with experts, wanted to ensure that the community gets involved in the project, which will assist them in knowing how to reduce flooding.
“The awareness of flooding and the mitigation measures have grown significantly since the start of this project, specifically following the rains that we had last year July and August and of course the efforts that have been made by the consulting team to ensure that there is strong community engagement," adding that it was a “critical” part of the project design elements.
Ms Dabreo revealed that the study identified four main flood prone areas in Road Town. They are Wickham’s Cay I, Lower Estate, Purcell Estate and Long Bush.
According to the DDM Director, the project will enable them to come up with a flood emergency response plan to improve them for those particular areas which will, in turn, be used for other communities, while adding that the consultants will be working on that phase very soon.
“We are passionate on ensuring that people are aware of the flood hazards and we are moving into a very rainy period of the year and we want businesses and homeowners make sure that they be ready, stay ready, she said.
“We still have a lot to do” - Janice Braithwaite-Edwards
As the 2018 hurricane season approaches, City Manager Janice Braithwaite-Edwards mentioned that they are currently working on clearing the ghuts and drains of debris from the August floods and the hurricanes but admitted that they have a lot of work to do.
She explained, “It is important now more than ever that we take the necessary actions to make sure that the city of Road Town is more resilient to flooding. Flood protection week is an opportunity to learn how we can take action as a community. One of the things that we are working on at this particular moment is to ensure that the ghuts around the city are cleared and we had a lot of debris and we still have a lot to do.”
“We can never completely remove all risk of flooding” - Dr Nick P. Jarritt
During his short statement on flood reduction, Dr Nick P. Jarritt, Director for the Water Management Amec Foster Wheeler Environment and Infrastructure UK Ltd., stated that one can never eliminate the risk of a flood but it can be reduced by doing simple things as a community.
“Based on the study, we hope Road Town will be able to reduce the risk of flooding that we face by making it lower but the nature of the climate, typography and the geography of Road Town means that there is always going to be risk of flooding because we can never completely remove all risk of flooding.”
Dr Jarritt pointed out that the study identified some areas are tough and problematic to deal with, namely the lower regions of Long Bush, Huntum’s Ghut and around the Purcell area, while revealing that his team along with the Ministry of Communications and Works and DDM are working to design a plan to tackle the issue.
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