Frenchtown resident fed up with flooding, lack of response
Published: October 20, 2012
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A sport utility vehicle drives through water that builds up behind a Frenchtown apartment complex after heavy rain.
ST. THOMAS - When it rains on St. Thomas, the street that runs behind Inger Cerge's Frenchtown apartment complex turns into a small pond.
After the rain Friday morning, Cerge said she had had enough.
Cerge said she has contacted the V.I. Public Works Department several times to ask about installing some kind of drainage system to relieve the standing water that accumulates whenever it rains.
"It's a river all day, especially when it rains," Cerge said.
The problem, Cerge said, has been going on "for months and months." She said representatives from Public Works told her they could not install a drain in the roadway.
"I pay $40,000 a year in taxes," said Cerge, who owns the apartment complex where the floooding takes place. "They need to do something for the people, man. It's a ridiculous thing."
Cerge pointed to a food truck across the street and asked how anyone was supposed to access the business. She said what used to be a day care further down the road had closed, in part because it was so difficult to access in wet weather.
Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said he was not 100 percent familiar with the road, but he believes it is one of the lowest points in Frenchtown and has been "plagued with flooding."
"It's been brought to the attention of the Department of Public Works, and we're looking into it to see what we can do to mitigate it," Smalls said.
Cerge said Friday morning she had also called the Governor's Office about the standing water and was waiting for a response.
"Nobody wants to touch it," she said.
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