A Year Since The Grands Vaux Floods

A year ago today, families were forced to leave their homes after devastating flash floods affected residents in Grands Vaux.

Heavy rainfall, clogged drains and an old sewage system that could not cope all led to a disastrous day in the valley.

Further compounded when the reservoir overtopped in the afternoon.

Andy Downie, Principal Engineer for Liquid Waste, says during the rain clouds sat over Les Platons, at the head of the Grands Vaux catchment.

"We had a lot of rainfall in a short space of time.

In the basin, which is the area below the dam itself, the road drainage was not operating and the existing sewers, which have been in place for years, were simply not big enough."

Nearly half of the average monthly rainfall for January 2023 in one night (16 to 17 January), with 42mm recorded at Howard Davies Farm in Trinity.

Fort Regent's cavern, which collects excess water in storms, was full by 5:00 am.

The heavy rain continued throughout the day, adding to the pressure on the liquid waste systems.

The Tactical Coordination Group declared it a major incident.

Around 60 households were taken to St Saviour Parish Hall to escape the flooding, Andy told Channel 103 some are still displaced a year on.

"I understand that the majority, if not all of the Andium residents, are back in place within the Andium Estates just south of the reservoir.

But I am aware that there are some other residents that are still not in their homes."

Today, progress has been made to ensure the extent of the 2023 flood damage is avoided in future.

Andy tells Channel 103 he believes that Jersey is better prepared now.

"We're working on permanent improvements to the drainage infrastructure to increase capacity and to reduce the risk of flooding in the future, which will take years to deliver.

We've got immediate response plans now."

Early warning systems are now in place for severe weather conditions, including heavy rainfall.

Jersey Met will also contact around 30 government and non-government agencies as an initial alert to adverse weather.

"If we get warnings from Jersey Met, we can deploy our team. They know what to do and where.

We're also investigating the potential defence systems, for example, barriers or sandbags, which people are familiar with seeing."

Recently, the system was put into practice on 3 and 4 January when residents at Grands Vaux were warned and flood defences were prepared.

Despite the low-pressure system bringing wet and windy conditions, there was no flooding in the valley, but the government said it would be prudent to prepare anyway.