Friends of the Rochester Esplanade say they suspect poor infrastructure cause the area to be flooded whenever high rainfall is experienced.
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00:00 The Met Office warned of flooding across the country today as Yellow and Amber Alerts scatter
00:05 Kent and beyond, but Rochester residents were still shocked to wake up to this.
00:09 The main road along the Esplanade was completely flooded,
00:13 with estimates of eight inches of water blocking the road. The fields were also waterlogged.
00:19 This led to carnage this morning, with most drivers going around the puddle,
00:24 but some braving it and driving right through the deepest part.
00:28 One community group member said this flooding isn't a surprise.
00:32 "It's a well-known spot for flooding. We're not entirely sure what causes it.
00:37 It could be drainage problems. Obviously there's a lot of trees here, so it could be leave blocking
00:41 the drains. It's quite a difficult thing to deal with. The Esplanade, the castle,
00:48 all of this is a conservation area. It's possible the infrastructure underneath isn't the best,
00:52 and I think it's probably also quite difficult to do a permanent repair
00:55 because of the historical status of the area."
00:58 Medway Council responded to the issue this afternoon,
01:01 sending a vehicle to clear up the water.
01:03 This flooding is expected to be mostly from rainfall. While it is a stone's throw from the
01:07 River Medway, Chris says the water from the river will only come up onto the mainland
01:12 when the tide is high. This was a problem they faced Monday when the storm was brewing.
01:16 "Earlier in the week, when we had one of the highest tides of the month,
01:20 we did see water coming over this footway.
01:23 This is something that we're probably going to see more regularly as water levels rise."
01:28 And all the hard work the force group invested into planting flowers along the river
01:32 has all been tarnished.
01:34 "We are concerned because of course salt water is not good for grass and plants,
01:39 so where we are now is a place where salt water could easily come over from the river
01:43 onto the grass and damage it."
01:45 The flooding we've seen today isn't the first of its kind to happen along this road,
01:50 but residents say it could very well be the worst that they've ever seen this road flooded.
01:54 And they say if this continues to happen, they're deeply concerned for the future of the Esplanade.
02:00 Sophia Akin for KMTV in Rochester.