While some parishes experienced brilliant sunshine yesterday afternoon, others came under heavy rain, causing flooding and damage in some areas. It was due to a localized light winds and strong daytime heating.
In Featherbed Lane, Kendal, St John, at least one family of four said flooding had washed debris on to their property, forcing them to take quick action to prevent major damage.
Rommell Flatts said it rained heavily around noon for about half an hour non-stop, causing water of over four feet to gush off the main road onto his home.
“When the water comes down here it comes as high as to my waistline. It is getting worse. Even the garbage washes off the road straight through my house; and my wife is in a wheelchair . . . ,” cried Flatts.
“Some of the water came through the house, [but] we managed to put up those barriers [pieces of board] to stop it from gushing in more . . . . But all inside the house is soaked; the carpet and everything. This is about the fifth time water ran though my house,” he complained.
Flatts said all he wanted was for the relevant authorities to give some priority to constructing a proper drainage system.
“I called everybody that I could call. Up to three weeks ago I called the Drainage Unit and they told me they would send somebody to see if they could correct the problem. If . . . my wife’s here alone and the rain comes down heavily, she’s in duck’s guts,” he said.
His wife Virginia Bascombe, who is confined to a wheelchair, said just the sight of dark clouds gathering made her fret.
“I begin to think about what might happen and think about if I have to leave the house or anything like that,” she said sadly.
Flatts is a mechanic. His garage, which is adjacent to his house, was not spared. Empty drink bottles, asphalt, old metals, rocks and other debris were strewn about after the water had subsided.
“All this is garbage that washed down here. Where it comes from I can’t tell you,” said Flatts.
Rosemary Blenman, one of his clients from St Philip, said she had only arrived at his garage a few minutes before the rain and she was immediately terrified by the sight of the water gushing off the road into the yard.
“I was so frightened, I thought my car was going to be washed away,” she recalled.
Meanwhile, sections of the St Jude’s main road in St George were flooded, causing motorists to divert, though some braved the torrents of water.
The Met Office said it was not unusual for some parts of the island to experience such heavy showers while others were in bright sunshine.
However, it said the wind flow was not normal, as it came from the south-south-east to south-east, causing the rain clouds to build up in the areas they did yesterday afternoon.
