Robert Hart, Staff Reporter

THOUSANDS OF residents of the neighbourhoods and the curious, visiting or passing through the various communities, viewed the battered shoreline of eastern Jamaica yesterday, as the nation began its recovery from the onslaught of Hurricane Ivan.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, residents of Caribbean Terrace, the shoreline section of Harbour View, Kingston 17, a little east of the roundabout to the Norman Manley International Airport, east Kingston, were left to pick up the pieces as several seaside houses, all concrete-and-steel structures, were undermined or demolished by a wind-driven storm surge.

As the tides rose and surged Friday night, houses were wrecked and household items scattered hundreds of feet away. A householder said that his refrigerator ended up some 10 houses up the road.

"I don't like this place anymore," another resident was overheard telling his neighbour. "It a get too active for me."

He was referring to the onslaught of looters who descended in the wake of the hurricane, adding that there was no protection from their entry by way of the beach.

The police have, however, secured the road entrance to the community. According to the residents, seven looters were arrested earlier in the day.

"They're only allowing us (residents) clearance to come in," a young woman told The Gleaner. She said that just two days earlier, she and other residents had ignored advisories by the authorities to evacuate, because they were wary of looters who had already begun circling the area.

Just next door, a section of the Harbour View Drive-In Cinema was swallowed by the sea, and it may be some time before the cinema is up and running again. The cinema's huge screen, however, stood firm against the powerful hurricane-force winds.

East of the drive-in, on Copley Drive, a single-storey house at No. 11, and a two-storey house across the way at No. 12, both at the end of the street, were destroyed by the sea which undermined their foundations, then flooded them.

SHOCK AND WONDER

Yesterday, Coply Drive and Caribbean Terrace were flocked by scores of the curious - some of whom gawked, held their heads in shock and wonder, made their after-the-fact comments, and even took photographs.

Farther east, at Rozelle, St. Thomas (just outside of White Horses), a large stretch of the coastal main road was ripped apart, making it impassable to vehicular traffic.

Several bars and snack shops along the Bull Bay coastal strip re-opened, allowing some people to quench their thirsts, drown their sorrows and assuage their hunger.

The National Works Agency said yesterday that the Norman Manley Highway (formerly Palisadoes road), which leads to the Norman Manley International Airport, east Kingston, would be cleared by this afternoon.

Phillip Paulwell, Member of Parliament for Kingston East and Port Royal, said he had been in touch with residents of Port Royal who had refused to evacuate the community. "Port Royal is OK. But if the eye (of Hurricane Ivan) had come, those rains would have washed everyone away," he said.

Just before the hurricane hit, some Port Royal residents told The Gleaner that they would not be leaving the town, which is almost completely surrounded by the sea.

Back to News

Go-Jamaica | Jamaica Star | Go-Local Jamaica | Sports Jamaica | Letters to the Editor