Heavy rains cause flooding in St Kitts

Basseterre, St Kitts,October 21, 2006 (Caribbean Net News) - Schools across St Kitts, forced to close on Thursday after inclement weather dumped nearly seven inches of rain across the island, re-opened on Friday, but closed again by mid-morning after  weather forecasters warned of continuing bad weather.

The surface low pressure, coupled with an upper level trough north of the Lesser Antilles, also forced businesses and government offices, factories and other establishments to close on Thursday.

By mid-morning Thursday, College Street Ghaut was running heavily. A pick-up van was abandoned after it stalled attempting to cross the ghaut. Two attempts to pull it to safety failed and the swirling waters carried the pickup to the other side of the ghaut with an adult male.

A police officer had to take drastic action to get the adult out of the vehicle, minutes before the raging water dislodged it, before it was washed down the ghaut, only to be seen later on Liverpool Row, minus its bumper.

Buses taking students and passengers home and vehicles were stranded for hours as water gushed across the island’s main road bringing down sand, stone and other debris.

While there has been damage to roads caused by the flooding, there are no reports of injuries or death.

Nearly seven inches of rain was recorded at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport within a 24-hour period.

The Senior Meteorologist at  the Control Tower Mr. Maurice Mills said to date nearly 12 inches of rainfall has been recoded so far for the month of October.

The storm, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightening, caused resulted in loss of electricity and water to several consumers. Electricity was restored to all areas early Thursday evening. Some households had water restored early Friday.

Friday night Minister of Public Works, Utilities, Transport and Posts, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin lead teams from the Public Works Department and local private contractors in cleaning up the Bus and Ferry Terminal on the Basseterre Bay Road.

On Friday work crews were also cleaning streets in Basseterre and around the island.

St. Kitts has been recording large amounts of rainfall in the month of October in the past few years. 13.89 inches in October 2005 and 18.70 inches in October 2004 compared to 5.49 inches in October 2003 and 3.83 inches in October 2002.

Source: http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000038/003833.htm