George Town (October 26, 2006) – The National Roads Authority (NRA) staff, government officials presented Savannah area residents the potential solutions for the storm surge flooding in the Savannah Gully Area during a public meeting on October 25, 2006. Approximately 80 residents turned out for the meeting which was held at the Savannah Primary School from 6:00-8:00 pm.
George Town (October 26, 2006) – The National Roads Authority (NRA) staff, government officials presented Savannah area residents the potential solutions for the storm surge flooding in the Savannah Gully Area during a public meeting on October 25, 2006. Approximately 80 residents turned out for the meeting which was held at the Savannah Primary School from 6:00-8:00 pm.
The meeting was held in an open house style and residents had a chance to review the information and speak to project team representatives. The residents also had a chance to attend a formal question and answer session prior to the close of the meeting.
The Project Team presented various engineering tools that developed as preventative measures and mitigation measures. Preventative Tools are those designed to keep the storm surge and related flooding from causing structural damage to homes and businesses. The Preventative Tools developed for the project included Coastal Armoring, Floodwalls, and Raising the Profile of Sandy Ground Road to act as a barrier.
Mitigation Tools are those designed to convey the floodwaters away from critical roads and from causing prolonged property damage. The Mitigation Tools developed for the project included creating stormwater basins, creating channels and culverts to carry the floodwaters, installing additional vertical drainage wells.
Several alternative solutions were presented during the meeting. Each alternative includes different combinations of both prevention and mitigation tools designed to address the problem statement. During the meeting, the NRA indicated they were in favor of Alternative 3, which includes Coastal Armoring, Flood Wall, Culvert under Sandy Ground Road, Basin in Gully with Vertical Drainage Wells, Vertical Drainage Wells as necessary in parts of the project area.
The next stage of the project will be to collect detailed geotechnical and coastal engineering data to determine the feasibility of the proposed solutions. The detailed investigations will be required regardless of the set of tools ultimately selected as the preferred alternative. Local firms will begin conducting land survey and subsurface drilling in the study area in the next month. Owners of those land parcels affected by these work activities will shortly be contacted by the National Roads Authority for their cooperation in obtaining authorization for right of entry.
Once the data is collected and analyzed, the National Roads Authority will present the results to a meeting of various governmental agencies including the Planning Department, the Department of the Environment, and the Lands and Survey Department. A public meeting will likely be held in early 2007 to discuss the findings of the detailed investigations and present specific information regarding the design. Upon approval and funding by the Cayman Islands Government, the National Roads Authority hopes to begin construction next year.