The NRA, the Ministry of Communications Works and Infrastructure (CW&I), government officials and other key persons will be hosting two ‘visioning’ meetings to gather community input into the flooding concerns in the Savannah Gully Area. The meetings are scheduled for the end of this month.

The NRA said that the flooding is typically caused when storm surge breaks through low spots in the coastal ironshore area, commonly referred to as ‘the gully.’

The area affected by the flooding in the Savannah Gully area extends through the Savannah, Sandy Ground, Spotts Newlands, Savannah Acres, Savannah Meadows, Newlands, and North Shore Estates subdivisions. The most recent occurrence of the storm surge flooding was from Hurricane Wilma in October last year.

The National Roads Authority and their consultants, Orth-Rodgers & Associates, will be asking public meeting participants for their first hand knowledge of the flooding in their neighborhoods.

Meeting participants will be asked to draw the extent of the flooding on project maps.  Participants will also be asked to participate in a survey geared towards obtaining information on the history of flooding (extent, depth, and duration) in their areas.

The purpose of the meetings is to gather as much information as possible from the residents.

The Information gathered at the public meetings will be used in the development of performance measures that will assist the NRA and its Consultants in developing both short and long term solutions to the problems. No solutions will be presented at this meeting.  Once the conceptual solutions are generated, the project team will conduct another round of public meetings.

The public visioning meetings will be held over two evenings to provide the best opportunity for community involvement in the project development process. The meetings are scheduled as follows:

May 30, 2006 – Savannah Primary School, 6-8 pm.

May 31, 2006 – Savannah Primary School, 6-8 pm.

The public meetings will be conducted in an open house format; the general public is welcome to attend any of the meetings at any time during the scheduled hours.