Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer
SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:
THE ST. Catherine Disaster Preparedness Committee convened an emergency meeting with several partner agencies at the St. Catherine Parish Council yesterday to iron out contingency plans to deal with the possibility of Hurricane Dennis affecting Jamaica.
Rain and winds associated with the hurricane are expected to hit Jamaica at around 9:00 a.m. today.
The stakeholders in the emergency meeting included the police, fire department and the Jamaica Public Service, as well as councillors from the St. Catherine Parish Council.
STATE OF READINESS
According to Patricia Lewis, acting disaster preparedness coordinator for the St. Catherine Parish Council, the council has been in a state of readiness with the cleaning of several drains and the appointment of volunteers to man shelters within the parish.
However, Ms. Lewis believes that since the disaster preparedness committee works in collaboration with other state agencies, she saw it fit to bring them on board "to find out how up to date they are in the event of a worse-case scenario involving Hurricane Dennis."
The Gleaner visited several areas in Spanish Town and found shoppers out in their numbers purchasing candles, kerosene oil, crackers, canned goods and other necessities that would be used in case there was a storm.
In the meantime, the St. Catherine North police told the The Gleaner that they were in a state of readiness.
"Policemen are on standby to be deployed to areas plagued by crime should the storm arrive," Howard Brown, deputy superintendent in charge of administration, said.
