Motorists in Rochester face disruption as Storm Ciarán causes flooding

Friends of the Rochester Esplanade say they suspect poor infrastructure cause the area to be flooded whenever high rainfall is experienced.

Transcript

00:00 The Met Office warned of flooding across the country today as Yellow and Amber Alerts scatter

00:05 Kent and beyond, but Rochester residents were still shocked to wake up to this.

00:09 The main road along the Esplanade was completely flooded,

00:13 with estimates of eight inches of water blocking the road. The fields were also waterlogged.

00:19 This led to carnage this morning, with most drivers going around the puddle,

00:24 but some braving it and driving right through the deepest part.

00:28 One community group member said this flooding isn't a surprise.

00:32 "It's a well-known spot for flooding. We're not entirely sure what causes it.

00:37 It could be drainage problems. Obviously there's a lot of trees here, so it could be leave blocking

00:41 the drains. It's quite a difficult thing to deal with. The Esplanade, the castle,

00:48 all of this is a conservation area. It's possible the infrastructure underneath isn't the best,

00:52 and I think it's probably also quite difficult to do a permanent repair

00:55 because of the historical status of the area."

00:58 Medway Council responded to the issue this afternoon,

01:01 sending a vehicle to clear up the water.

01:03 This flooding is expected to be mostly from rainfall. While it is a stone's throw from the

01:07 River Medway, Chris says the water from the river will only come up onto the mainland

01:12 when the tide is high. This was a problem they faced Monday when the storm was brewing.

01:16 "Earlier in the week, when we had one of the highest tides of the month,

01:20 we did see water coming over this footway.

01:23 This is something that we're probably going to see more regularly as water levels rise."

01:28 And all the hard work the force group invested into planting flowers along the river

01:32 has all been tarnished.

01:34 "We are concerned because of course salt water is not good for grass and plants,

01:39 so where we are now is a place where salt water could easily come over from the river

01:43 onto the grass and damage it."

01:45 The flooding we've seen today isn't the first of its kind to happen along this road,

01:50 but residents say it could very well be the worst that they've ever seen this road flooded.

01:54 And they say if this continues to happen, they're deeply concerned for the future of the Esplanade.

02:00 Sophia Akin for KMTV in Rochester.