So, while those rivers will continue to rise, Stann Creek is experiencing flooding of its own. This has caused the Billy Barquedier Park to close for this week as the high level of water and strong current pose a risk to public safety. The park is home to a waterfall, and several watersheds, and provides water for the rest of the community. The park manager, Maria Pech, is concerned about the damage that the adverse weather may cause to the water sheds.
Maria Pech - Park Manager "One of our main concerns right now is that one of the watersheds that I mentioned actually provides water to the community, so one of our main concern is whether these ongoing rains, the wind, may cause any rupture to some of the pipes or clogs of the pipes. So apart from the actual flooding, that's one of the other things we have to look at and try to monitor as much as possible to ensure that the community's source of water isn't affected greatly. As of recently we haven't seen it to this extent. We have had some rain for at least three days, and it rains almost all day so definitely the flooding we're seeing right now isn't really something that as common. As of now, during the week, the other condition we have ongoing with COVID and all that, that in itself has been a factor leading to the decrease of revenues so since we already had that ongoing and with this we had to close down for the week. If we are able to open by next week, with one weekend being closed, yes we will have some loss in revenue but not a significant amount that would affect us greatly."
After the water recedes, the park rangers will need to assess the damages and clear debris and branches from the trails to make them accessible to visitors.
