Torrential rains fall on Saturday, overwhelming drains and roads, with flooding captured on video

Several communities were flooded on the weekend due to torrential
rains, with the MET Office having to issue a flash flood watch.
 
The weather that impacted the island on Saturday, October 28, and
Sunday, October 29, was consolidating into a tropical disturbance,
weather officials said.
 
This disturbance was predicted to become a short-lived tropical
depression or tropical storm in 48 hours. However, it poses no wind
threat to the Caribbean.

The rain that fell on Saturday did most of the damage in
communities where roadways and drains were flooded, and videos
of its impact quickly went into circulation.

One shows the ghaut that runs next to the Liberta Police Station
being overwhelmed by the volume of rainfall. Instead of flowing
beneath the bridge, the water rose so high that it overflowed onto
the road.
 
Residents speculated that the underside of the bridge had been
blocked with debris since it had not been cleaned.
 
Accordingly, had there been an emergency requiring the police,
officers at the station would have been unable to leave due to the
quantity of water on the road and the intensity of the flooding.
 
Parts of Grays Farm that are prone to flooding were not spared,
either. Another video in circulation shows an area where water is
almost covering the wheels of a parked vehicle.
 
MP Richard Lewis has been calling for the drains in the St. John’s
Rural West constituency to be cleaned and for remedial work to be
undertaken in flood-prone communities to help mitigate such
occurrences.

Other United Progressive Party caretakers had pleaded with the
relevant government agencies to take proactive action, as well.
Fortunately, the water quickly ran off in most communities. But as
people traversed the roads after the rain eased on Saturday, they
encountered evidence of flooding with stones, mud, and debris
washed onto the surface.
 

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is monitoring two
weather disturbances, although these are not likely to impact
Antigua and Barbuda.