A man stares at the wreckage of a Toyota Hiace mini-bus that was swept away by flood rains in St. James on Wednesday. Carol Ann-Marie Cooke, who was a passenger in the ill-fated vehicle, died as a result of the flooding. - PHOTO BY ADRIAN FRATER
WESTERN BUREAU:
HEAVY FLOODING in St. James on Wednesday caused the death of 41-year-old businesswoman Carol Ann-Marie Cooke, the evacuation of several hotel guests and a delay in the departure of two cruise ships.
Ms. Cooke, the owner of Dumfries Auto Supplies and Hardware, died when she was swept away by floodwaters near the Somerton fording in the parish which felt the brunt of three hours of heavy rain.
According to reports, shortly after 6:00 p.m. Ms. Cooke was a passenger in a Toyota Hiace mini-bus, which was travelling from Montego Bay to Dumfries during the heavy rains. While negotiating the rising floodwaters at the Somerton fording, the heavy current began to wash away the vehicle.
"Both of them (the bus driver and Ms. Cooke) climbed out of the bus and grabbed onto a light post but the water was too much for her and she was washed away," said an eyewitness to the tragedy. "The water dragged her down into the ravine and she and the bus just sailed away."
Ms. Cooke's body was found shortly after midnight on Wednesday, trapped in debris about a mile from where she was washed away. The minivan, which was one of three vehicles that were washed away by the floodwaters, was completely destroyed.
Wednesday's heavy rains, for the second time in three years, also disrupted operations at the Five-Star Ritz-Carlton resort in Rose Hall, Montego. Mudslides and floodwaters careens through the property from the hills of St. James whenever there is torrential rainfall.
This time around the hotel was left without electricity and telephone service, with one of its three restaurants flooded and its car park left muddy. The Hotel's General Manager, Martin Nicholson told The Gleaner yesterday that approximately 250 guests will either be relocated to other hotels in the area or booked on flights to return to their homes. He said of this number about 150 guests have already left the hotel.
"Whatever the damage, we will have that fixed very soon. We are only concerned now with the safety of our guests," he said.
The rains which started at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, closed parts of the Rose Hall road, mainly the thoroughfare outside the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort where the water level rose several feet. At Half Moon Montego Bay a retaining wall broke down, carrying debris into the hotel's lobby.
During the chaos, several cruise ship passengers returning from tours to Ocho Rios were stranded and forced to wait for hours, causing their ships to be delayed for eight hours. The two cruise lines Carnival and Princess- finally departed at 2:00 a.m., instead of the scheduled 6:00 p.m. departure.
