THERE WERE no further reports of flooding yesterday and periods of sunshine lifted the gloom over most of the island.
The Meteorological Office, however, extended the flash flood warning for low-lying and flood-prone areas. Satellite imagery showed that although the spiral band associated with Hurricane Isidore continued to extend over the western Caribbean, a surface-to-middle-level trough has also developed just east of Jamaica, producing another area of disturbed weather.
The Office of Disaster Pre-paredness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) reported that most persons who had been flooded out had gone back home, with only one shelter at the Little London Primary School in Westmoreland remaining open. Earlier reports had put the figure at 600 families from that parish who were displaced. Westmoreland was the hardest hit parish, according to ODPEM.
Yesterday, the shelter had five families remaining there, persons from the McNeill Lands area where the waters have still not completely receded. Water levels there had been levelled at 4-5 feet high. The parish is also littered with broken-down trees and other debris which are not hazards, but which have not yet been cleaned up.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has expressed satisfaction with the level and quality of the relief efforts of ODPEM which offered help to persons affected by the flood rains.
In a statement from Jamaica House yesterday, the Prime Minister said that he had been in constant contact with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and ODPEM, and that he was satisfied that the Government machinery was operating swiftly and efficiently. He said that shelter, supplies and all other necessary support were being delivered to affected persons.
The Prime Minister said that the current election campaign will in no way impede the capacity of the Government in its relief efforts, nor will the distribution of relief assistance to victims be done on any other basis than that of deserving need.
Meanwhile, the National Water Commission reported a disruption in its Siloah water supply system in St. Elizabeth due to high turbidity at the plant. This resulted in a suspension of operations and disruption in regular water supply. Customers served by the system including those in Siloah, Thorton, Williamsfield and Windsor were provided with trucked water.
In the meantime, fishermen and other small craft operators should continue to exercise caution as sea conditions will deteriorate with the onset of showers and thunderstorms due to gusty winds.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms are still expected, particularly over eastern parishes, and the next three days are expected to be cloudy with outbreaks of showers and isolated thunderstorms, the Met Office said.
