The island has only experienced one completely dry day so far this year and the forecast for the rest of February looks consistently wet.
The first 17 days of February saw 120.4mm of rainfall. The island’s wettest February on record was back in 1978, when 182.8mm soaked the island.
A spokesman for Guernsey Water said that 10 days’ worth of rain had fallen on Tuesday this week and the island was ‘the dictionary definition of saturated’.
Its teams have been out trying to clear problems such as a blocked culvert in Rue de St Briocq, St Peter’s.
‘This has resulted essentially in a lake forming. And water always finds a way. This time, it’s over and under the road,’ he said.
‘We employed teams and sent in the big pump in the hopes of being able to drain the “lake” and allow us to clear the culvert.
‘However, the rain was too heavy and we just couldn’t drain it enough. The pump has been turned off and we are going to try again in the coming days. As a result, the road is closed.’
Guernsey Water said it would provide an update as to just how much water the island has been dealing with in the coming days.
‘In the meantime, more rain is forecast so if it is safe for you to do so, please keep drains clear so we can all avoid flooding as much as possible,’ he said.
Another badly affected road is Route des Coutanchez, St Sampson’s, where the charity Grow is based. Site manager Georgia McAllister said the road had been flooded on and off for the last two weeks and States Works were present yesterday morning trying to clear the floodwaters, after the road had been closed yesterday afternoon because of the build up of water.
‘Last week was horrendous and on one day no one could get into the building, as the road above Aladdin’s Cave was closed and the road below was flooded,’ she said.
‘It’s been awful weather. Our actual plants haven’t been affected, but the douit around the building is at road level.
‘It’s not just us who have been affected but the other charities like the Samaritans and Citizens Advice who are based her have all been disrupted.’
Guernsey Water said it had also had to deal with more than 200 emergency cesspit call-outs this week – more than it would usually get in a month.
‘This is all down to the incredible level of rainfall – with February seeing twice as much as usual,’ said business change manager Andrea Simpson.
‘Our drivers are working hard in these very, very wet and challenging conditions. Emergency call-outs usually happen within four hours, but might take longer at the moment because of the number of calls we are getting.’
She asked for islanders to please be patient when trying to make contact.
‘The customer service team are receiving a lot of calls and arranging emergencies. If your cesspit is filling up quicker because of the rain, that may indicate it is not properly sealed, in which case we recommend customers contact a drainage company.’
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