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| DEREK WALCOTT |
Derek’s
Poem - A City’s Death by Fire - recapped
his memories of the 1948 fire which he claimed “levelled all but the churched
sky”. In the Poem, he asked “Why should a man wax tears when his wooden world
fails?” Sixty-five years after the fire, we wonder if Derek were also to recap memories
of the onslaught of floods on the city, would he have asked: “Why would the
wooden world of Castries city be under threat of failure from God’s tears?”
When
we contemplate the persistent “assault and battery” of Castries City by floods
over time, we wonder whether water will ultimately be a main cause of the "death"
of the capital city.
The city’s flooding dilemma
To
the best of living memory, Castries City has historically been subject to a
barrage of perennial flooding, primarily because of its location in a flood gut
on reclaimed land. Apparently, the engineering interventions designed to respond
to the flooding problem have not always produced the desired outcome.
As
far as I am aware, engineering consultants have prescribed two major solutions in
that regard: (1) the desilting and clearing of the main and parish drains prior
to the onset of the rainy season; and (2) the Castries Flood Mitigation
Project. Only the later has brought a measure of relief and - we can safely say
- were it not for it, the flooding could have been a lot worse for the city. Clearing
the drains does not seem to work anymore, as they seem to have become
overwhelmed by the indiscriminate disposal of waste and breeding of rodents and
pests.
The
recent spectacle on Bridge and Jeremie Streets being virtually submerged under
flood water rising well above 3 feet at some points and lingering around for
more than 14 hours is a potent reminder of the consequences of onslaughts by
floods on the city environment. Even the pumps (if they were in working
condition) must have been overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the flooding.
Sign of things to come
If
this year’s early heavy rainfall were to be a reliable predictor of what is to
come during the hurricane season, then we seem to be in for major weather challenges;
but as I said a previous article, I don’t expect those challenges to stem from
a proliferation of category 3+ hurricanes.
In
the article titled “Powerhouse Hurricane
Review 2013 (published April 13) I argued that, contrary to the scientific
predictions by weather experts, I didn’t "believe" that we would have
a "hyperactive" hurricane season punctuated by a high frequency of very
dangerous cyclones. Assuming that the time frame for the hurricane season has
remained constant (June – November) and that there hasn’t been a “season/climatic
shift”, then (given that the prevailing rainfall pattern continues) it is also
reasonable to assume that there is much heavy rainfall is on the horizon.
I
also argued that thermodynamic conditions (which will contribute to the early
heavy rains) should also have a mitigating impact on the intensity and
frequency of hurricanes. I have boldly thrown out this hypothesis into the
public domain for monitoring. Having said this though, I’m also patently aware that
my position is mere conjecture – a “modification hypothesis” to the current
hurricane paradigm laden with limitations.
Dangerous Rains
Hurricane
Tomas in 2010 may be too fresh in our minds to escape attention. We might claim
that it was a “rarely-occurring” natural phenomenon which was an exception to
the rule; but we can’t run away from its lessons.
One
of the painful lessons was the recognition that flooding and landslides can
have an equally if not more devastating impact than hurricane-force winds.
Traditionally, the perception was high winds were the real danger; but Tomas
might have changed that. We now appreciate that both wind and rain can be
extremely dangerous, with the realisation that it may be easier to “escape” the
onslaught of the high winds of a cyclone than it is to escape floods and
landslides associated with the heavy rains.
When
Hurricane Ivan hit Grenada in 2004, it laid waste to the island. Hurricane
Emily struck her again in 2005 but this time, something of a “minor miracle”
happened: It was reported that 100% of the “exposed rafter” roofs retrofitted
by Caribbean Metals easily survived category 2 hurricane force winds, while the
“non-exposed rafter” roofs toppled around them. That was a lesson worth noting!
Compare
that to the onslaught by Tomas: there was nothing St. Lucia could do to escape
from the “Titanic” landslides and/or “Noah-type” floods which hit Soufriere,
Saltibus, Bexon and the Bar de L’Isle.
Already
this year, heavy pre-season rainfall has been sounding serious alarm bells,
beckoning us to pay greater attention to flood and slide mitigation.
Are we prepared for the rains?
There
is no doubt that Soufriere is still geotechnically fractured and fragile; and
I’m not sure that the various slope stability management interventions and
their rates of implementation have done justice to gravity of the problem,
especially in the context of the early high rainfall, which may have rendered
the landscape in those areas even more vulnerable.
Saltibus
too is still dangerous territory and poses high risks to residents and road
users at some points.
The vulnerability of Choiseul
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| NEW WEATHER PHENOMENON APPEARED IN CHOISEUL RECENTLY |
Choiseul
Village, which was
generally immune to floods, has now become “risky territory”. In the past, we
knew the village to be vulnerable to coastal threats, but the construction of
Fisheries Complex brought about much desired coastal protection in that regard;
but at the risk of creating a bigger coastal environmental problem of sand
depletion caused by the sand mining over time. The environmental impact may not
be immediate; but it can be devastating in the long term resulting in the
disappearance of beaches. The time may be opportune to compare samples of the
sand at the fisheries to samples of the sand from the surrounding beaches to
make a determination of the beach or beaches being affected.
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| SABWISHA BEACH PARK (CHOISEUL) |
Just
imagine the disappearance of Sab Wisha (l'Anse Louis), the Village beach or
l'Anse John from the face of the earth. Also, just imagine, side by side with
that, the inconvenience of perennial flooding of the village. If the recent
flooding and siltation are not freak phenomena - and when we add hurricanes to
the equation - then, the possibility of the threat of exposure to a trilogy of
disaster dilemmas is real to the village.
As
I said earlier, Choiseul village was considered immune to flooding; but, all of
a sudden, a section of it has been put on "vulnerability watch"
because of a drainage intervention projection; and some villagers are
expressing concern.
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| TOP OF THE GIANT "MOCO-GEE" GORGE ON TOP OF VILLAGE |
It
is believed that the cause of that potential vulnerability is related to an
apparently poorly designed drainage project running parallel to the Fisheries
Complex. The villagers were taken aback by the unprecedented flooding and
accompanying siltation which descended on the lower end of JEM Salmon Street
after the recent showers of rain. Apparently, the egress of water from (what
the villagers call) the “Moco Gee” and “Pa Fond” “passageways” was connected to
it. Previously, that water headed straight into the sea; but the design of the
Fisheries Complex did not make provision for the continuation of that flow. It
is apparent that the new drainage project extending from TG Westal Row to the
Moco Gee drain was implemented to apparently address that flaw.
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| WATER FROM THE MOCO-GEE FLOWS INTO THIS DRAIN |
While
the project is good in principle, it is also true that the construction and/or
design may also have issues. Firstly,
there is the issue of the gradient of the drain inhibiting a smooth flow,
resulting in a build up of water spilling unto the road causing flooding. A
mere 2% gradient increase might have done the trick. Alternatively,
consideration could have been given a “storm drain”, which would facilitated a steadier
and greater volume flow rate, hence eliminating the flooding problem.
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| THE NEW "BOX DRAIN" IN THE VILLAGE |
I
hope the resulting flooding and siltation do not add to the woes of the
besieged Fisheries Complex and the embattled fishermen.
Saltibus/Gertrine,
Roblot, Belle Vue and the Victoria/Myers Bridge corridor are the most prone
areas to landslides. Geotechnical research into the extent of the vulnerability
of those areas with a view to medium/long term engineering interventions is
recommended. The problem at Victoria/Myers Bridge, which was especially
challenging, have been ameliorated thanks to RDP 01/02; however, threats and
risks remain for Victoria/Belle Vue.
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| SALTIBUS: STILL DANGEROUS TERRITORY |
Not
all of Choiseul is vulnerable to the trilogy of disaster dilemmas. The West
Coast communities are cases in point. Whilst their elevation
above sea level makes them highly vulnerable to hurricane force winds, they are
relatively free from floods and (of course) coastal threats. Their problem remains inter-ridge access
posed by overflowing rivers over the low bridges during a disaster. In fact, rivers overflowing
their banks have been regular phenomena in Choiseul because of the district's "ridged"
topography. That problem has been solved between the Village and Laborie,
thanks in part to the RDP.
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