After the rain, the clear-up

WORKERS spent yesterday picking up the pieces after heavy rain and strong winds.

Vale Rec club president Martyn Lowe clearing debris from the douit grate at the Corbet Field. About a quarter of the pitch has been flooded.(Picture by Luke Le Prevost, 31701302)

A third of a month’s rainfall fell in less than 24 hours on Wednesday, leaving flooding and damage.

At the Corbet Field, home of Vale Rec, the pitch partly flooded.

Club chairman Jody Bisson said that the sheer amount of water had overwhelmed the drainage system.

‘The rain flooded the car park and a quarter of the pitch was completely under water,’ he said.

‘Being in a low-lying part of the island, this is the price we pay for heavy rain.’

Club president Martyn Lowe added that the heavy rain has had a knock-on effect on the rest of the Vale parish.

The challenge for children was not climbing to the top of the spider’s web, but reaching it through the new ‘moat’ around it. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 31701218)

‘We had two separate douits coming into one channel. Two into one doesn’t go, so as you can imagine the channel started to overflow and any debris in the water that isn’t trapped by the grate eventually ends up in Vale pond and blocks the pumps,’ he said.

At Saumarez Park, the area surrounding the spider’s web climbing apparatus was completely submerged by water.

There is a similar story by the Japanese pavilion. The pond has doubled in size, and ducks were floating along the river of water that now covers the Tarmac footpath. Metal barriers prevented entry to this part of the park.

Park users did not seem fazed by the flooded areas. Mandy Priore, who was taking Tommy, 2, and her Shih-Tzu Bruno for a walk, said she had seen flooding like this in the park before.

‘It happens a lot. You just need to be aware of which bits are slippery so that you can stay off them,’ she said.

An Agriculture, Countryside & Land Management Services spokesman said: ‘The drains at Saumarez Park were last cleared in late December and ACLMS has arranged for them to be cleared again this week.

‘There are no signs at the moment that the flooding has caused any damage within the park, but we will check that is the case once the flooding has receded.’

The bad weather has also meant the fall of 19 trees, including eight large ones, at sites including Moulin Huet, Fermain, Le Guet and La Mare de Carteret playing fields.

ACLMS has organised for these trees to be cleared, in particular where they obstruct paths or present a significant risk.