Heavy rains damage two bridges at O’Brien’s Valley

Heavy rain last Friday, which caused the river at O’Brien’s Valley to overflow its banks, once again, caused damage to two of the community’s bridges.

Dianna Fraser, a resident of the village, told SEARCHLIGHT the rain started coming at around 10 that morning, but it was not until later that the problems started.

“We didn’t have any rain this morning until about 10 and then it continue, not too heavy just like {{more}}two normal showers … and then it went down a bit and it came down heavier.

“It bring down a lot of debris and wash away this bridge here and the one round at the other side,” Fraser further stated.

The villager told SEARCHLIGHT that since the 2013 December floods, the bridge had just been packed into place using stones and sand and the heavy river flow “washed away all of it.”

She noted that while there was no damage to property, her uncle who lives across the river did lose some groundnuts that were planted adjacent to the river.

Another villager Norman Blake explained that the damage was caused by two logs that washed down in the river, blocking it.

Those bridges, according to Blake, had previously been destroyed in 2010 and then again in the 2013 floods.

A release dated February 5 from the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) said the flooding was a result of “heavy showers and periods of rain from a trough system”.

The release also stated that rivers in the area had overflowed their banks and had caused disruption to the flow of traffic.

“The rivers in Noel, Savannah Gutter and Overland overflowed and cause disruption in traffic. There were also reports of flooding in Rabacca.”

Additionally assessments were being conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Works and BRAGSA, and clean-up and repair operations were set to commence on Saturday.(CM)