Jersey supermarket shuts and college building floods following heavy rainfall

  • ITV Channel reporter Alex Spiceley visits the damage caused by a weekend of heavy rain (Picture Credit: ITV Channel and Ronan Green)

A Jersey supermarket has temporarily shut and a college building partially flooded following stormy conditions.

Residents witnessed heavy rain, thunder and lightning rolling across the island from Saturday 7 September into Sunday.

It followed a Jersey Met warning of heavy and consistent rain with the chance of localised flash flooding as the Government took precautions such as clearing drains of debris.

The Coop has closed one of its stores, with potato farmers having to plan ahead to avoid the loss of their crops. Credit: ITV Channel

On Sunday, The Channel Islands Coop said its Val Plaisant store will be closed until Tuesday due to the "exceptional weather".

The supermarket announced on social media that the shop "sustained internal damage" and apologised for the inconvenience.

Despite some damage, potato farmers have thanked Jersey Met for the prior warning as they harvested their crops before the worst of the weather to ensure their products were not drowned by the excessive rain.

Farm Manager Tom Quénault explains: "There was so much rain in such a short period of time. It will dry out, but it's going to need a few days to dry before we can get back on the field again.

"It's not so much an inconvenience because when we know about it, we can plan for it, but it's the extra workload and extra hours while it drys to get the crop out the ground."

Highlands College saw water running down the stairwells and walls, with one of their roofs also leaking. Credit: ITV Channel

Students at Highlands College have been told not to go directly to classes after flooding affected two floors of the site's buildings.

Those studying media, sport and uniformed services will be relocated until the affected areas dry out and electricals are tested.

The College adds that staff helped deal with damage over the weekend but the roof was still leaking.

Highlands College Principal, Jo Terry-Marchant, explains: "It was really quite upsetting. There's been damage to tables, walls and a computer network room that had to be completely relocated.

"It is a stress, mainly because we're concerned about the wellbeing of our students."

Volunteers and runners still turned out for the Jersey Cancer Relief Half Marathon which began at FB Fields. Credit: Jersey Cancer Relief

Despite the gloomy conditions, some planned sports events went ahead.

The Jersey Cancer Relief Half Marathon started on Sunday morning, with soggy runners braving a route past Hougue Bie and Gorey Castle for the charity and Jersey Spartan Athletic Club.

The Season Long Championships at Jersey Race Club also continued after an inspection cleared jockeys and horses to take part.

Despite the challenging day, officials say all horses and jockeys returned safely.

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