VIDEO: Flash flood on the road? Let's go wakeboarding

Sunday 17 September 2017

Every cloud has its silver lining, and for some it seems that flash flooding means it's time for road surfing.

Two islanders - Ben Langford and Rhys Edwards (28) - decided to make the most of this weekend's heavy rainfalls to dig out their wakeboard and have some fun down in St Ouen.

Late morning on Saturday, several roads in the area got submerged as heavy rainfalls affected the island. St Peter's Valley was one of the most affected areas with the road past Val de la Mare and St Ouen's Manor, also impossible to drive through.

The road between St.Ouens Village -St.Peters Village which runs passed Val De La Mare and St.Ouens Manor is closed due to extreme flooding.

— States of Jsy Police (@JerseyPolice) September 16, 2017

Ben originally drove down to the area in his 4x4 to help get drivers who had been caught in the flash flood out of trouble. As he and Rhys Edwards were assisting others stuck in the huge puddles that had formed in the middle of the road, friends suggested the conditions were perfect for a bit of a wake boarding. Ben told Express: "One of them said, 'What a shame you don't have a wake board with you' and I replied 'Well actually I do, it's in the back of car.' We didn't have any ropes so we used straps and we sort of made it happen. It was just to have a bit of fun in those conditions."

The two friends spent 30 minutes messing around in the water, gliding over the puddles towed by Ben's 4x4.  Ben explained: "The water was pretty cold but apart from that the conditions were similar to the sea. We had a good laugh, the water could have been cleaner but you can't have everything!"

But the fun didn't last long. As Ben was about to have his turn, he says the Police asked them to stop as the activity could be dangerous, a feeling echoed by many who saw the video on social media.

But Ben said he and Rhys took measured risks and the two have been wake boarding and surfing since their teenage years. Ben said: "The cars were actually stopped and the people were just looking at us. We have doing this long enough to know what we were doing. It was just a fun thing to make most of the situation."

However, many islanders applauded the guys for their resourcefulness and their 'glass half-full' philosophy. Ben said: "Nothing like this has ever been done in Jersey; hopefully this is what people will remember."