LUCEA, Hanover — The Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) is sounding the alarm over a deepening drainage crisis in the parish, warning that local resources are no longer enough to manage the frequent flooding and infrastructure decay exacerbated by recent heavy rains.

During the regular monthly general meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation last Thursday, Lucea Deputy Mayor Andria Dehaney Grant presented a sobering preliminary assessment of the parish’s drainage network.

The report detailed a trail of destruction left behind by recent downpours, including severe flooding, landslides, and blocked waterways that have paralysed sections of the parish capital and surrounding communities.

While some drainage systems held firm, the municipal corporation identified a litany of long-standing issues that have left the parish “highly vulnerable”.

Among the primary culprits are heavy siltation, solid waste blockages, aged infrastructure, and a general lack of carrying capacity to handle modern weather patterns.

“The extent of the flooding demonstrates that the parish is facing a situation that requires a coordinated national response,” noted Dehaney Grant, emphasising that the scale of the challenges now exceeds local capabilities.

The impact has been particularly severe in the town of Lucea, specifically on Miller’s Drive and West Avenue, where traffic flow was disrupted. Ocean Pointe Housing Development near Grand Palladium Hotel saw flood waters impact both residents and major transit routes. The Green Island area also saw multiple sections hit by significant drainage overflow.

Officials are especially concerned about these areas due to their high population density and critical economic importance to the parish’s tourism and commercial sectors.

In a bid to provide immediate relief, the corporation had deployed technical teams to estimate the cost for rapid clearing, and has engaged manual crews to remove debris from critical points in Lucea, Riley, and Crescent Lane. Additionally, “push and dredge” operations are currently under way in areas such as River Gully, Hopewell, and March Town.

However, the corporation maintains that these are stop-gap measures and is now calling for urgent collaboration and assistance from the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, the National Works Agency, the National Environment and Planning Agency, the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

The municipal corportaion had also outlined a two-pronged strategy to address the crisis. In the short term — the next two to four weeks — the focus will be on desilting major gullies, repairing critical culverts, and deploying heavy equipment like backhoes to high-risk zones.

For the medium to long term, the corporation is proposing infrastructure redesign by upgrading undersized and damaged drainage channels and the creation of flood risk mapping by developing a parish-wide map and flood risk register to guide future investments.

With that said, Dehaney Grant noted that it is now more important for the initiating of talks regarding the central government-promised bypass road for Lucea, to ensure emergency access during flooding events.

The municipal corporation is also partnering with the National Solid Waste Management Authority and the public health department to urge residents to stop dumping waste into watercourses, citing a rising risk of stagnant water and public health concerns.