A comprehensive drainage study for Greater Montego Bay is being undertaken alongside ongoing infrastructure works with a view to limiting, or eliminating, the kind of flooding that overwhelmed the community of Catherine Hall during Hurricane Melissa last October.

This was stated by minister with responsibility for Works Robert Morgan on Wednesday during his contribution to the sectoral debate in the House of Representatives.

Scores of homes were filled with mud and debris brought down by the Montego River and one major business, MegaMart, which was inundated by flood waters, has since closed its Catherine Hall store.

On Monday, the owners of National Baking Company who are building a US$75-million plant in Catherine Hall indicated to the Jamaica Observer that they were concerned about flooding in the area.

“I spoke to the prime minister [Dr Andrew Holness] about [the flooding issue] and I am going to take him at his word because it is a hell of an investment down there,” National’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary “Butch” Hendrickson told this newspaper on the sidelines of the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference in Montego Bay.

“He said he was going to have a lot of engineering studies and work done. I don’t think they can remove the whole risk; I think they can minimise the risk. But put it this way, how would I get flood insurance?” Hendrickson added.

Speaking on efforts to mitigate the problem, Morgan said, “That study is essential because Montego Bay’s future cannot be built on roads alone. It must be built on drainage, storm water management, flood mitigation, and climate resilience.”

“The importance of this drainage-first approach is clearly demonstrated in Catherine Hall,” he said.

Morgan shared that following Hurricane Melissa, technical assessments confirmed that the flooding experienced in Catherine Hall was not the result of a simple or isolated drain failure. “It was the result of an extreme, multi-hazard event: intense rainfall, unprecedented flows in the Montego River, storm surge effects, sediment movement, debris accumulation, and the limitations of an ageing buried drainage system.”

The works minister said the assessment found that rainfall exceeded 350 millimetres within 24 hours, with peak intensities reaching approximately 295 millimetres per hour. It also found that the Montego River recorded peak flows estimated between 2,132 and 2,653 cubic metres per second, consistent with a 500-year return period event. “Those flows exceeded the design capacity of the Barnett Street Bridge by approximately 1,200 to 1,600 per cent. That was the scale of the climate reality we are now confronting,” said Morgan.

He highlighted that the proposed Catherine Hall Drainage Concept Plan recommends a strategic transition from the existing buried drainage system to a surface-level lined concrete channel system.

“This approach is intended to increase conveyance capacity, make maintenance easier, improve performance in flat terrain, and reduce the risk that sediment and debris will render the system ineffective again. Importantly, the proposed system is being developed in the context of the wider Montego River Flood Control Plan and is designed to preserve the existing levee system, with controlled discharge points and backflow prevention measures,” said Morgan.