Philipsburg:--- Heavy rainfall left several motorists stranded as most of the streets were flooded. Motorists and passengers were seen pushing their stalled vehicles out of the road way.Traffic had to divert from St. Peters through Betty's Estate, A T Illidge Road was blocked due to the height of the water. In most areas the drains were severely clogged and workers from Public Works were not visible. The pump station in Sucker Garden was closed most of the day yesterday.
Residents expressed their frustration on the social networking site Facebook at the island government and mostly the civil servants working at the Public Works department. Some said these civil servants are using government vehicles to go to the night clubs and casinos instead of performing their duties.
An advisory was issued by the meteorological center of the Netherlands Antilles states that a small craft should exercise caution in open waters as there is a cloudy overcast with periods with light to moderate rain.
During the past few hours a total amount of 72mm of rainfall has been registered at the Juliana airport.
Head of Maintenance Claudius Buncamper in an invited comment said based on the system the water would take about 15 to 20 minutes before all the water would run off the roads. Buncamper said St. Maarten was well prepared to handle the amount of rainfall and there was absolutely no need to turn on the pumps because Great Bay was open. Buncamper further explained that the flood gate was also open so that there would be no overflowing of the Salt Pond. "We even open the Ring Road to avoid any type of major flooding. But one has to understand that when there is a lot of water in a short period of time there would be water on the roads." He said Dutch Quarter and A.T Illidge Road were inaccessible at one point because of the amount of water that was flowing down the hills.
Buncamper further explained that his team was on the road from 6 am and remained on the road monitoring the situation. He said he was also on the French side of the island and water was gushing down the hills. "We still have to remove some rocks from Cole Bay Hill but that will be done later in the evening."
The Maintenance head of Public Works said the residents of St. Maarten know they are in a hurricane season and the overcast was hanging over St. Maarten since Thursday. He said in such weather people who do not have to work should stay off the road.
