Business owners in the Mill Creek area are not holding their breath for a solution to the flooding that has plagued the area for decades.

Despite efforts to reduce the flooding, the combination of heavy rains and a high tide makes flooding inevitable, said business owners yesterday.

Their comments came following Thursday night’s torrential rain.

“We just have to grin and bear it,” said Tops Ltd president Jim Ferguson. “This is a situation that is always going to happen at high tide when you have a downpour.

“We’re at the mercy of the gods, I guess, because the bridge that was built a couple years ago was not built to help us out or alleviate the situation.”

Mr Ferguson said the possibility for a pump facility had been floated among business owners but Government had not “seen fit” to assist or provide any information.

“We’ve talked as a group and have met several times, not for the past year or so, but we did discuss when the new bridge was installed whether we should have a mechanism that would allow for a pump to be inserted that would pump the water into the ocean. We figure you can’t flood the ocean.”

Toby Kempe, of Bermuda Forwarders, said the flooding has only worsened over the past 30 years, adding: “It’s an old shoe at this stage.”

TreeCon president David Rowntree expressed his frustration at trying to have the issue rectified for over 14 years.

“They did come at one point and raised the road sufficiently enough to limit the flooding but it’s obviously gone back down again, and it’s causing floods. We’ve suffered damages to our vehicles because of the salt water, we even lost an engine.

“It usually only happens during high tides and heavy rains.

“At a typical high tide, it doesn’t occur, it’s the combination of the high tide and rain. But all of that can be alleviated if the road was raised in that area. For some reason or another they can’t get it done.”

Mr Ferguson said a solution would be appreciated but did not expect one coming any time soon.

“I think in today’s economic climate — we’re business owners and we’d like to see something done — but we also understand that there are other projects Government has on the calendar.

“Whether or not they have a ten-year plan or if there is one, I don’t know. There’s nothing we can do. We just have to live with it.”

A Ministry of Public Works spokesman said: “There was a significant amount of rain last night coupled with the fact that the Pembroke Canal has a large catchment area has meant the canal has accumulated a lot of water.

“This has been exacerbated with the high tide this morning which has meant that water from the canal was not able to be released into the ocean which has led to it backing up in Mill Creek.

“The flooding will abate when the tide drops which will enable the sluice gate to open.

“There will always be a risk for people who build on flood prone areas and it is not always possible for Governments to cover the costs of remedial action.

“In the case of Mill Creek the Ministry has carried out studies in the past and is working towards providing improvements within the budgetary and resource constraint.”