Experts to address flood areas
(CNS): There are no easy solutions to the persistent flooding problem in the Cumber Avenue area in Bodden Town, according to the Director of the National Roads Authority (NRA), who has confirmed that experts are being engaged to look at the problem there and come up with a viable solution. He said that other areas around the island that suffer severe flooding as a result of development would also be assessed to try and come up with ways of permanently addressing these ongoing problems.
Following Hurricane Paloma, the residents in Cumber Avenue suffered extensive flooding, something which now occurs on a more frequent basis following severe weather conditions. NRA Director Brian Tomlinson explained that the combination of local geography and more recent development in the area has created a basin from which water cannot escape and the area has become a serious technical challenge.
“At the junction of Cumber Avenue on Bodden Town Road the elevation is around 17 feet above sea level,likewise at the junction on Gun Square Road it reaches 22 feet. However if you go travel down either of those roads into the area prone to flooding you arrive at land that is a mere three feet above sea level. With the new development in that area, the water that once found its own way to the wetlands is now trapped,” Tomlinson explained. “We have considered many solutions and there is no easy answer to this issue. We have however, engaged the services of an expert engineering firm to take a look at this problem area and one or two others that are emerging as the island develops more and more.”
At a recent government press briefing Kurt Tibbetts, the Leader of Government Business, said that if there was a simple answer it would have been found a long time ago and that a proper assessment was required. “We can speculate and try mitigation measures but when you have a situation like Hurricane Paloma where you have several days of continuous rain before the actual event, it exacerbates the situation.”He said it did not happen very often but was happening enough and causing severe inconvenience and disruption to residents in the area.
One or two local experts and those with an interest have suggested that the area is no longer suitable for residential occupation and the only solution maybe to compensate the home owners and relocate the residents because there is no real long term solution. However he said it was important to try.
Tomlinson said the NRA has considered pumping the water but the question then would be where to put what would effectively be polluted and dirty water. “We certainly wouldn’t want to pump that into the pristine ocean around that area,” he said. Tomlinson reiterated the fact that this was a job that needed technical expertise to try and properly quantify it and similar problems areas around the island and then come up with a properly costed, rational solution.
The most recent flooding in the wake of Paloma has not only raised controversy from the position of a civil engineering but this time residents were outraged by what they considered to be so little help from government. While government insisted that they had given clean up supplies to the area and were helping replace damaged furniture, residents in the area persistently denied receiving any government assistance for the damage they received following the hurricane.
Category: Local News
Did they address this yet? (Sarcasm for those that can’t detect it). Only we in the Cumber Avenue and Belford areas of BT are bracing for another flood, ooops storm season and the usual accompanying hoards of mosquitos again!
IDLE TALK, THAT,S WHAT IT IS
I was born in Cumber Avenue Bodden Town, and have live here over 50 years, and in all of my life time there has never been any flooding as such until after the wet lands of Lookout Gardens were sold and built up. High Roads and prestigeous homes. Swamps filled, turtles birds and rabbits had no where to go.
The water had no where to go, so it flowed into Cumber avenue. I am quite sure a conspiracy took place during the last election with certain members of this district to be able to construct buildings and roads without proper planning. Go an look for yourselves and see what was done. We live here, and we know exactly what was done to damage this avenue.
GOVERNMENT WILL NOTPAY ME FOR MY HOME AND RELOCATE ME SOMEWHERE ELSE. NO!!!!!!!!! FIND A SOLUTION. MILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN SPENT ON FOOLISHNESS ELSEWHERE, SO SPEND SOME ON THIS CUMBER AVENUE.
Dig trenches, dig gulleys, Lay drain pipes back into Look out Gardens, put in culverts, do what ever it takes, and talk to the residents and hear what they have to say, we should have a say in this too. This ave is proudly named after GOVERNOR JOHN CUMBER WHO WAS A GOVERNOR OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS, BACK THEN, when there was no more than a bicycle track. MY grandmother ANTONETTE LEVY wrote a letter to Governor John Cumber, asking him to put a road in this avenue, which he did, that is why the road is nameed after him CUMBER AVENUE. We are proud of this avenue, and the same way that a Governor could put this road here, we would expect the Governor of the day to assist us with a plan.
Think of all the money Millions which have been spent on other persons and other things. Is it because the people in this avenue are not rich or white skinned. Dont let me start the prejudice game now, because if not I would like to know some other reason that sounds logical.
Yes something can be done. It is just that they do not want to spend the money on us. There is always a solution to every problem.
About compensating people for their damages, I can only speak for myself. I do not know about anyone else. I was given a sofa and bedroom set. and a 20 inch stove from Children and family services.
Listen good: I lost three bedroom sets, one sofa set, washer dryer, water heater and stove filled with water. Sheet rock moulded, clothes got wet, closet doors swollen, room doors and front doors swolen. Every thing just floating around. Picture it.
water settled four feet in my home, the same four feet outside. So it was impossible to get the water out. I have pictures which I can show anyone who wants to see them. Rotary personnel was trying to pump water out of one part and it was comming in through another part. They gave up, and the furniture just had to stay there. For two weeks.
In six months the rainy season begins, hurricane season begins. What do we do.? I would like to see something started soon. We are very angry, and we are getting angrier by the minute, because, what? planning should not have allowed the wet lands to be closed up, sliced up like a piece of cake and sold off. Where was the National trust when this was being done? They see everything else, why didnt they stop this. It was done, and someone knew about it and had very good reasons for turning their heads the otgher direction. Its called conspiracy for Gain. There isa solution, and we are hoping to hear something very soon.
Enjoy your christmas, because we fret every time we hear a rain drop.
More examples of the utter failure of people taking responsibility for their actions, Government failure to have a Development Plan, politicians using "Other Peoples Money" to buy votes and other stupid people (yes, including me) allowing all of this nonse to continue.
The following extracts from the article above exemplify our failing unsustainable poor governnace systems:
"…but this time residents were outraged by what they considered to be so little help from government. While government insisted that they had given clean up supplies to the area and were helping replace damaged furniture, residents in the area persistently denied receiving any government assistance for the damage they received following the hurricane. "
Not every "Cubic Gallon" of our Islands are suitable for building anything on those sites, Grand Cayman is 2/3 wetlands and were never suitable for housing sites. The few stupid planning laws that do exist allow (if not require) the CPA to approve plans for buildings and roads at just about sea level, "Limbo Construction Planning" in which "how low can we go" is the order of the day.
After all of this stupid development practice is allowed then the rest of us are now being required to "buy" these homes that are built too low? The developers of the property were allowed to build roads too low, they made their profit and now the rest of us must pay for these "Mistakes". I say NO!!
Come on people, wake up, demand the First Development Plan for the Cayman Islands – we have learned very little from hurricane Ivan, we have forgoten what our forefathers and mothers knew and practiced, do not build in low flooding areas, build all houses high off the ground to avoid flooding.
Take Savannah – our planning laws allowed houses to be built in the "Gully" area and now we must all contribute funds buy those houses also – go to the developers in flooding areas who made the profits, go to the politicians who succomed to "Fiscal Influence" and opposed the First Development Plan. for the Cayman Islands – let them pay.
Stop employing "Flooding Experts" – go to a kindergarten school for your home grown "Expert", areas below sea level will flood…in kindergarten children are taught that water finds its own level…construction should only be allowed in areas high above above sea level… then no flooding.
STOP UNSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FOOLISHNESS or it will eventually bankrupt us.