Villagers in Laxey claim latest flood prevention works are not up to the job.

Work began last week on a replacement culvert which the Department of Infrastructure says has been designed to cope with a once in a 100 years major flood event.

But during heavy rain last week a pipe installed to divert the water flow while the new culvert is being constructed, washed away.

The culvert channels the stream from Gretch Veg waterfall under Glen Road and out into the Laxey River.

Lack of capacity in this culvert has been cited as a contributory factor in the devastating floods which hit the village in October last year.

But on Wednesday last week the Garff Flood Action Association emailed Infrastructure Minister Tim Baker to warn him that the pipe being used to divert the water was not big enough to cope with ’even a modest thunderstorm’.

’The potential for flooding of nearby properties is clear,’ wrote resident Ken Crellin, who called for an ’extremely close weather watch’ to be maintained as the culvert can fill very quickly after rainfall.

But that very same night those fears became true when the culvert overflowed during heavy rain and the 0.5m pipe was swept away into the bay.

Fortunately, there was no serious flood damage to homes.

In a second email to Mr Baker, copied in to Chief Minister Howard Quayle, Mr Crellin wrote: ’Local weather records show that this occurred little more than an hour after commencement of the rain - exactly as we predicted.

’One wonders if a suitable risk assessment was carried out.’

He estimated that the culvert channels 1,000 tonnes of water into river during heavy rain - but that the diversion pipe could only cope with a fraction of that.

Since the first pipe washed away, a larger one has been installed to divert the water flow. But Mr Crellin believes it is still not big enough.

Responding to his email, the Chief Minister assured him that the new culvert will be ’significantly larger’ than the old one. Mr Crellin told the Manx Independent that 40mm of rain fell in two hours overnight on Wednesday/Thursday last week.

Fire crews were called to a property further up Glen Road, which had to be pumped out.

There have been claims the DoI used the all the village sandbags to protect its culvert site, leaving none for properties on Glen Road. More sandbags were delivered after the Civil Defence were contacted.

The DoI said in a statement: ’Civil Defence was contacted by a Laxey resident concerned about the possibility of flooding overnight and arranged for a pallet of sandbags to be delivered to Laxey that evening by the DoI.

’At 2.15am on Thursday, Civil Defence were mobilised and delivered a further pallet of sandbags. These were deployed at the Baldhoon Road by Civil Defence and DoI teams, when a further four pallets of sandbags were arranged to be delivered to the scene.

’The Fire and Rescue Service were in attendance with two appliances, and deployed pumps. Civil Defence left at around 3.40am when the Fire Service advised that further risk of flooding was low.’

The DoI said last October’s flooding was partly attributed to the undersized culvert section from its depot to under Glen Road.

’The capacity of the new culvert will be considerably greater than the existing one and will benefit from improved alignment, removing the sharp junction between the two culvert sections,’ the spokesman said.

He said: ’The pipework is a temporary arrangement to divert normal river flows, and allows the contractor undertaking the essential flood prevention work to form the concrete foundation for the retaining wall units.

’Some pipes were washed away last week due to heavy rain, which saw 47mm fall in just two hours.’

The contractor has introduced a new working method to construct the concrete foundations for the top section of this scheme, said the spokesman. Foundations will be excavated and concreted in the same working day, allowing the shuttering to be removed and the water course to remain clear overnight.

The retaining wall units were due to be lifted and lowered into position yesterday (Wednesday). All works in the river channel will be complete by September 30.

Mr Crellin said 100 or so residents living in Glen Road are anxious every time it rains. He said his own house insurance has quadrupled.

The Garff Flood Action Association is calling for the government to introduce a flood insurance scheme for those who have struggled to get cover.