Neap Tides overwhelm foreshore

The moon and the wind are making life a little inconvenient for residents of the Southern Foreshore this week. Seawater has been spilling over the sea wall since Monday flooding streets and yards. According to the Met Office, the high water will continue for about a week. Carlos Fuller of the Climate Change Project says the high tide is a twice yearly event called a “Neap Tide” which occurs when the moon is closest to the earth and its influence on the tides is greatest. This time, however, the wind from the east is also stronger than normal and is pushing even more water over the sea wall. Neap Tides generally occur in October and March. Contractor Tony Villanueva has been hired to raise the height of the sea wall on the Southern Foreshore thirty inches because of problems in the past. He told News Five they are nearing completion of the three hundred and fifty feet bank from the fence near the House of Culture to the Bellevue Hotel and a further extension is being discussed. Carlos Fuller says recommendations were made to make the wall even higher because of a projected rise in the level of the sea due to global warming over the next few years.