Major incident declared

17 January 2023

A major incident has been declared following flooding in Grands Vaux. Please find below the latest information:

Following heavy rainfall overnight, there has been localised flooding in Grands Vaux. This has had affected residents and school students at Grands Vaux Primary School.
A Tactical Coordination Group was stood up with representatives from States of Jersey Police, Jersey Fire and Rescue Service, Jersey Water, CYPES, JHA, IHE, Andium Homes, Jersey Electricity and Jersey Ambulance Service. A major incident has been declared.
There has been some flooding of properties in the area. Andium Homes and States of Jersey Police have evacuated 20 households and have organised short-term accommodation for affected residents. More residents are expected to be displaced imminently. An emergency reception centre has been set up at St Saviour's Parish Hall to receive residents.
Grands Vaux School was closed today due to floodwater preventing access to the school. Parents were informed and very few students were in school. The floodwater has reached the school site but has not affected the fabric of the school building.
Several roads in the area have been closed as a precaution. Jersey Fire and Rescue are clearing drains and securing the area. There are further road closures in St Mary and St Martin due to standing water and some overflow from other reservoirs.
Jersey Water are pumping water from Grands Vaux reservoir into Queen's Valley reservoir. The cavern (which collects overflow during heavy storms) was full at 5am this morning. Any additional overflow will continue to flow into St Aubin's Bay and several other sites until the inflow stops and the excess can be pumped into the treatment plant.
Grands Vaux reservoir has now overflowed and begun to spill water into the immediate area. This will compound the effect on residents and buildings in the area. A further 30 households will need to be evacuated. Grands Vaux School will not open tomorrow. Up to 25 mm more rainfall is expected this afternoon and overnight.

18/01/24 – This article has been updated to correct details, believed to be accurate at the time of issue, which have subsequently been shown to be incorrect.