The drains were cleaned but they were still flooded | Bayview resident calls for modern storm drains

The response was swift and in the affirmative, as heavy equipment was moved in and flood mitigation works conducted in anticipation of the perennial hurricane season.

Green and other residents breathed a collective sigh of relief until Sunday when the outer bands from Tropical Storm Elsa dumped an average of three inches of rainfall within 12 hours.

It left several Bayview residents distraught as their homes were flooded despite their proactive approach a month ago.

Footages captured by Green amplified her distress and that of other residents. Damage was minimal for her, she said, except that half of the house needs to undergo a total electrical rewiring.

Other residents suffer damage to appliances and furniture, she informed.

To most Jamaicans Sunday’s massive islandwide flooding was expected, but it also highlight the inadequacy of the drainage infrastructure that has long outlived its capacity.

The same can be said of the drainage network at Bayview Gardens, which dwarfs in size compared to that of Highway 2000 and the residential community of New Harbour Village I.

Storm waters now flow in larger volumes as a result of Old Harbour’s rapid development, a change that hasn’t gone unnoticed to the residents of Bayview Gardens.

“It wasn’t always like this,” Green said speaking to Old Harbour News this morning.

“You see the water from the toll road, some of that goes into our drain and then it goes into the drain over by New Harbour Village. So that is what causing the main problem for us,” she explained.

“I agree that a lot of rain fall yesterday, don’t get me wrong. But the additional water coming off the toll road makes it worse,” added Green who has been a resident and homeowner in the community for 13 years.

“Every house on my street flood out yesterday,” she bemoaned, while noting the inconvenience caused having recently done surgery on her leg.

With the drains in the community significantly smaller than that of the toll road and New Harbour Village, Green contends that a major overhaul of what currently exists is required to alleviate flooding in the community.

“We have been begging the councillor from Whappy kill Fillup that what is needed is concrete drain and carry up the sides high. We are not saying no water may not come over but the volume of water that come over would not come over because it would have been contained,” she said.

For emphasis Green pointed to the neighbouring community of New Harbour Village below where no flooding was reported because of the modern drainage infrastructure put in place by the developer when the community was established in 2008.

Bayview Gardens is a community of 36 homes created in 1994.