As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway, the St. George community of Charles Rowe Bridge in Barbados faces a growing, life-threatening crisis: long-unaddressed flaws in drainage infrastructure and damaged utility systems have left the low-lying area acutely vulnerable to catastrophic flooding, local residents and business owners have warned. The urgent calls for action come nearly 12 months after a deadly flash flood in November 2024 that claimed the life of 58-year-old Terry Kellman, a tragedy that remains a searing reminder of the district’s long-documented susceptibility to extreme rainfall.
Geographically, Charles Rowe Bridge functions as a natural collection basin for stormwater runoff that cascades down from a chain of elevated surrounding villages, including Gun Hill, Newbury, Market Hill, Cottage and Constant. For decades, the area has borne the full force of intense tropical downpours, but community members say core vulnerabilities have been left unaddressed despite repeated warnings.
While a recent joint cleanup effort by the Ministry of Transport and Works and the National Conservation Commission removed visible debris and discarded waste from the area’s main gully — leaving the surface looking visibly improved — residents stress that the most critical underground drainage components remain severely compromised.
Local businessman Peter Yearwood, who has long advocated for infrastructure upgrades in the area, explained that a central drainage well, which handles runoff from at least seven different catchment points across St. George, has not undergone full desilting in multiple months. Though surface gullies now look clean, hidden underground infrastructure has been neglected, he said. “I requested that they clean this well during the dry season, four or five months ago, because that is where the risk really builds up,” Yearwood told reporters. “Any unmaintained well accumulates thick layers of silt and debris at the bottom, which drastically cuts its capacity to hold stormwater. They did an excellent job clearing out the gully itself over the past few weeks, removing old fridges and accumulated rubbish, but the job is only half done. We need the grates and all underground drainage lines fully cleared to prevent catastrophic flooding.”
During a tour of the area with Barbados TODAY, Yearwood pointed to a large drainage tunnel that remains completely blocked by overgrown thick grass, compacted mud and accumulated debris, leaving it completely useless as hurricane-driven rains approach. Compounding this hazard is a utility pole positioned alongside the drainage channel, where past floodwaters have eroded away all surrounding earth support. If another major flood hits, the pole could collapse, bringing live power lines into floodwaters and putting residents at severe risk of electrocution.
“Water flows all the way here from hills as far away as Gun Hill and High Hill, so this major blockage needs to be cleared as a matter of urgency,” Yearwood warned. “If another washout happens here, it will be a disaster. The pole’s support earth is completely exposed, and if it falls, people could be electrocuted. We cannot afford another event where power poles come down, cutting off critical services and even costing lives.”
Anxiety runs especially high for residents who live directly adjacent to the area’s watercourses. Ian Holder, a local resident whose property sits directly in the path of potential floodwaters, is still waiting for repairs to a retaining wall that collapsed almost a year ago. Without the intact wall, there is nothing to stop rising floodwaters from surging directly onto his land and into his home.
“The rainy and hurricane season is already here, and water from the main drainage well flows straight toward my house,” Holder said. “It’s been almost a year since the wall collapsed, and to this day, no one has come out to assess the damage or start repairs. When flooding hits, this won’t just be an unpleasant mess — people are going to get hurt. We are already bracing for a major flood event, and this unaddressed damage could turn a bad storm into a catastrophe. This wall needs to be rebuilt as quickly as possible.”
Holder still vividly remembers the destructive force of last year’s flash flood, which swept heavy vehicles hundreds of meters through the community. “There were two palm trees right there; a vehicle parked next to them got washed all the way down to the doctor’s office near Lodge,” he recalled. “I pray we don’t get another major storm, but it’s a very real possibility. The drainage teams cleaned up a small portion on the other side of the area, and while this well can’t hold all the runoff, it needs to be cleared to handle at least some of it. I have children living here, so this is an immediate, critical safety concern.”
The trauma of past flooding still lingers for many families in the community. One resident shared that her brother, who previously lived in the area, was permanently displaced after a traumatic flood event trapped her nephew inside a work vehicle against a retaining wall, with water rising rapidly past the vehicle’s windows. “The water was four to five feet deep, coming right through the windows,” she said. “It was a terrifying, life-threatening experience. My brother lost everything he owned in that flood. He tried to go back to save a few belongings, but going into electrified floodwater full of debris was far too dangerous. He will never live here again after what happened.”
Many long-term residents argue that Barbados’ current approach to flood mitigation — which relies on reactive surface cleaning after major events — is not enough to protect Charles Rowe Bridge long-term, and that deliberate, large-scale engineering solutions are needed. David Connell, a resident from nearby Church Hill, says building a series of small dams and retention reservoirs in the upper gullies is the only sustainable way to stop repeated destructive flooding in the low-lying area.
“To stop flooding down here, we have to plan to hold water further up in the gullies before it reaches our wells,” Connell explained. “If you trap the water upstream, you don’t get these massive, destructive surges hitting this low point all at once. A series of small dams would catch most of the stormwater, and only controlled overflow would flow into the existing drainage wells. That would drastically cut the volume of water hitting Charles Rowe Bridge during heavy rains.”
Connell also criticized successive governments for failing to consult local communities when designing new infrastructure projects, noting that poorly aligned newly paved roads often divert stormwater into residential areas instead of into planned drainage catchments. “When the government builds new roads, they need to come out to the communities, talk to the people who live here, and map how water naturally flows before they start paving,” he said. “Right now, we have drainage wells that don’t even get runoff from the new roads because of bad alignment. If they talked to residents, they could add new wells to channel water away from residential streets. If you can hold the water upstream on the hills, this whole problem gets a lot better.”
Longtime local business operators also carry vivid memories of narrow escapes from past floods. One shopkeeper who has worked in the area for decades recalled having to flee his shop mid-storm to avoid being trapped by rapidly rising floodwaters. “When the water came through, it was up to my chest,” he said. “If I hadn’t run out immediately, I would have been in serious trouble. Decades ago, we never had these massive, unexpected surges up here. I don’t know what changed, but now water just bursts out from the back lots. Water from the gully behind my shop and another large gully near the police station and St. George Secondary School all converges at the road tunnel right here at Charles Rowe Bridge. They need to find a way to divert some of that water elsewhere instead of letting all the runoff from Newbury, Market Hill and Constant flood this single spot.”
Even though regional forecasters are predicting a less active than average hurricane season this year, residents say the risk is too high to delay critical repairs. They are calling on the Ministry of Transport and Works to immediately deploy heavy equipment to clear blocked underground drainage tunnels, desilt key collection wells, and repair damaged retaining walls before the first major storm system hits the island.
