HIGHER parish rates to cover the cost of the huge clean-up operation following Storm Ciarán “cannot be ruled out”, a Constable has warned.
And another parish leader has urged residents to be patient as planned works are delayed to prioritise the recovery operation after 100mph winds brought down trees and caused widespread damage to homes.
Parish and government officials are battling blocked drains and gullies across the Island, as storm debris and persistent wet weather causes flash flooding and brings additional costs to parochial administrations.
St Lawrence Constable Deirdre Mezbourian said that a blocked drain which led to a road becoming flooded had been dealt with by parish officials earlier this week.
She added: “The parish checks our drains on a regular basis and we did so again when the storm warnings were issued, but there will have been debris following the storm on all roads and collecting in drains.
“We are also aware of Islanders who blow their leaves and debris into roads. Those end up in drains, and it becomes even more difficult to keep them clear.”
She continued: “It’s too early to say at the moment, but an increase in parish rates cannot be ruled out, depending on the costs that parishes may incur.
“St Lawrence has paid for only one tree that fell from parish land to be removed; otherwise the cost of clearing the trees has really fallen to the landowners.
“But it needs to be looked at by every Constable at the end of the clear-up.”
St Brelade Constable Mike Jackson, who chairs the Constables’ Committee, said staff had been “busy clearing gullies”, but “with trees shedding masses of leaves at the moment, it’s an unending job”.
He added: “Any additional work being undertaken now will have its costs paid out of this year’s budget. We don’t have a source of additional funding.”
Mr Jackson continued: “We would need to take a view when setting next year’s budget in July whether sufficient funding is in place for this type of event and it will be for parishioners to approve that at the parish assembly held for that purpose.”
However, Marcus Troy, Constable of St Clement – which was devastated by a tornado in the early hours of 2 November – said: “We do not think this will lead to an increase in the parish rates in St Clement.
“What we have done is rearrange various ongoing works to reprioritise for a clear up, which will mean that work that was planned will inevitably be delayed for a period of time.
“We therefore have asked our parishioners to be patient.”
Richard Vibert, Constable of St Peter, said his parish had experienced additional costs but added that those had been “absorbed within our existing budget and we also have some reserves to meet unforeseen expenditure of this nature”.
Duncan Berry, head of liquid waste, at the Infrastructure and Environment Department, said that a “significant amount” of debris on roads from Storm Ciarán had caused some blockages in the surface-water systems.
He added: “Our road sweepers have been going around all government roads removing the debris and gully-emptying machines have followed.
“With the heavy rainfall last week and over the weekend we have had some instances of localised flooding, primarily in the north of the Island. Our teams have been working hard to alleviate this localised flooding.”
Insurance providers previously said that it was too early to comment on whether premiums might be affected by the rise in the number of claims related to storm damage.
Islanders whose properties have suffered damage have been advised to collect as much evidence as possible – including photos and repair estimates – to speed up their insurance claims.
