Island’s roads awash as heavy rain causes major flooding
Heavy rainfall brought flooding across the island yesterday.
A deluge kept up most of the day, until abruptly stopping at about 3pm.
Police flagged that the roads near Grow Ltd and the Guernsey Goat Farm in St Peter's were being particularly badly affected by flooding.
‘Motorists are requested to exercise caution when progressing through areas with surface water and at slow speed,’ a police spokesman said.
A social media video of the road outside the goat farm – Route Des Sages – showed deep, fast flowing water in the road.
Other videos showed people wading through deep water in a Vale lane, and floodwater almost reaching the sill of a doorstep off the Bridge.
Guernsey Fire & Rescue said some roads were closed by flooding.
‘Our crews are currently responding to a number of different requests for assistance, including to help and move vehicles, which have become stuck in deep standing water,’ a spokesman said.
Guernsey Water advised islanders not to drive or walk through floodwaters.
‘Currently, teams are out in multiple locations re-setting manhole covers that have lifted,’ a spokesman said.
‘That storm water you’re seeing is maybe the result of a manhole that has lifted, and you might not see so.
'We’re taking lots of calls and deploying our resources accordingly to get through them.’
He added that the foul water network in some areas had been overwhelmed, meaning that some floodwater could contain sewage.
‘Currently we are only aware of this in Les Baissieres, and we’ve had the road closed as an emergency,’ he said.
‘The drainage system is overwhelmed. However, with the break in the rain and all our pumps across the network running at full capacity, that level will drop. More rain is expected overnight, so please heed our advice.’
The latest wet weather spell has followed a very wet January. As of Tuesday, there has 114mm of rain, when normally about 86mm would have been expected.
However, it is well off the record of 210mm, which fell in January 2001.
Islanders are set to enjoy better weather today, with cold but sunny conditions.
