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Boats and tractors are being used to help Grands Vaux residents out of their flood-hit homes after as water levels continue to rise.
Overnight, large amounts of rainfall has left properties in the area flooded and without electricity.
Islanders are being warned to avoid Grands Vaux and Vallée des Vaux, particularly near the reservoir, as large sections are underwater.
Video: The Fire and Rescue Service have been helping some people using dinghies due to the high level of the water. (Hannah Fitzgerald)
At least 18 residents from the Andium properties in Grands Vaux have been evacuated, with the Fire and Rescue Service having to make use of dinghies to help the more vulnerable out of their homes.
Grands Vaux Primary School is also closed.
Pictured: The scene at the Pillar Gardens estate in the early hours of this morning.
Steve Ozouf, a resident of the Pillar Gardens estate at Grands Vaux, said that residents were concerned yesterday when they saw how full the nearby reservoir was.
“Flooding has always been a huge worry for the people who live here,” he explained.
When Mr Ozouf returned home from work at 07:00 this morning, the flooding had just started but was “only a few inches deep” and lapping at the wheels of a neighbour’s car.
Now, the bonnet of that same car is completely submerged with the “water continuously rising”, he told Express this morning.
Pictured: The water has risen over the car's bonnet in less than four hours. (Steven Ozouf)
Mr Ozouf explained that residents are in desperate need of sandbags to prevent the water entering their properties, but only one pallet has been located which is being shared between more than a dozen households.
“There’s just not enough sandbags to go around and we don’t know when more are coming,” he explained. “The sandbags are only a foot tall, and the water is already higher than that.”
For some residents, it’s already too late.
Mr Ozouf said that the house on the corner of his estate has indoor water levels as high as the staircase, with the bottom floor completely submerged and the contents damaged.
WATCH: "This is probably the worst flood we've had on this estate in six or seven years."
He said: “That specific house even had floodgates to prevent this from happening, but they’ve done nothing.”
Mr Ozouf added that some of his neighbours do not have contents insurance as their houses were flooded a few years ago, meaning that they were left unable to be insured again.
Pictured: Boats and tractors are being used to evacuate people from their homes.
The emergency services are in attendance, with water levels up to their waists in some places, but Mr Ozouf said that there not much anyone can do until more sandbags arrive.
“It’s not even safe to cross the street to help neighbours,” he said.
Pictured: Steven Ozouf, who has been sharing live video updates as the flooding worsens, says residents are calling for sandbags.
“There is so much water that the manhole covers have popped of the drains, so the firefighters are walking around with sticks out in front of them to make sure they don’t fall down a manhole.”
Grands Vaux Primary School was also closed this morning, after flooded roads left staff and students unable to access the school premises.
WATCH: Flooding at Grands Vaux. (Ollie Taylor)
As of 09:00 this morning, 31.6mm of rain had fallen in just 24 hours. This is one-third of the usual rainfall for the entire month of January over the past 30 years, which averages at 95.2mm.
So far this January, there has already been 114mm of rainfall with a fortnight of the month still left to go.
Pictured: The water is waist-high in some places. (Steven Ozouf)
Nataly Fay, a resident of Nicholson Close in Grands Vaux, said the flooding was the worst she had seen in the 18 years she had lived there.
"Even though we’ve put the barriers up it’s still coming in - it’s all through the house now," she explained.
Video: The reservoir at Grands Vaux this morning. (Hannah Fitzgerald)
"It’s usually our road that gets flooded but it’s much worse this time, I’m really worried."
She added: "Everything is going to be ruined, it’s awful."
Due to flooding on between the La Rue (Carrefour Selous) and junction Rue de La Frontiere with Rue des Buttes, route 7 is diverted: OUTBOUND via past Carrefour Selous la Grande Route de St Lawrent> St. Johns Church>Devils Hole 1/2
— LibertyBus (@LibertyBusje) January 17, 2023
2/2 INBOUND:>St Marys School>St Marys Church>Rue de Bel Air>Neuf Chemin past St Johns Manor>Rue de la Mare Ballam>Grande Route de St laurent>Carrefour Selous and back to its normal route, No access to these bus stops: Six Roads, Broadfields, La Ruette. Updates to follow.
— LibertyBus (@LibertyBusje) January 17, 2023
Follow Express for live updates...
Pictured top: Steven Ozouf has been posting video diaries of the events as the unfold.
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