Continuous Rainfall Results in
Flash Flood in St Kitts

By now I guess you've heard about the flash flood in St Kitts on Thursday October 19, 2006 that caused several roads in Basseterre and the rural areas to be impassable and resulted in businesses, Government offices and schools closing around midday on that day.

It was the most rain I've seen here since about November 1999 when there was a major flood in Basseterre.

So what was the cause of this latest flash flood in St Kitts? Well according to officials in the Met office, the heavy rains that resulted in the widespread flooding was caused a surface low pressure coupled with an upper level trough north of the Lesser Antilles. Here in St Kitts some seven inches of rain was recorded at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport within a 24-hour period from 8 p.m. on October 18th to 8 p.m. on October 19th.

I missed the raging waters of the ghaut because there were so many flooded roads and backed up traffic that I could not get downtown. When I did get downtown later in the afternoon, although the ghauts were still running (although not as high as in the morning) the water had receded from most of the flooded streets. The last roundabout in Frigate Bay was still flooded, as was the section of the Frigate Bay Road close to the Newtown Sporting Complex. Following are some photos related to the October 19, 2006 flash flood in St Kitts:

Click on thumbnails to view larger photos