Nagra Plunkett
and Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporters
Donald Flash and his daughter Tasha-Lee wade through flood waters in their yard in Unity district in Bunkers Hill, Trelawny. Sections of the community were flooded after heavy rains associated with the passage of Hurricane Dennis pelted the area. - PHOTO BY MONIQUE HEPBURN
WESTERN BUREAU: NINETEEN PERSONS including a month-old baby at Unity district in Bunker's Hill, Trelawny, were dislocated by floodwaters during the passage of Hurricane Dennis, when persistent rainfall pelted the area on Thursday.
When The Sunday Gleaner visited Bunkers Hill on Friday, several residents reported that the water had reached their doorsteps and were fearful that with continued rainfall, their homes would be flooded again.
HAD TO TURN BACK
"I was on my way to work but I had to turn back about midnight. I could not get to move anything because everything was under water," said Donald Flash, a resident of Unity.
"I was afraid when I saw the water coming in. Everybody had to just sit and watch what was going on and wish for daylight."
Mr. Flash said that this is a regular occurrence whenever there is a period of heavy rainfall. He added that during the passage of Hurricane Ivan last September, residents were
forced to evacuate, taking their furniture along with them.
I don't know what is going to happen to us because we are not on the map. This is what we have to live with any time rain fall heavy," an elderly resident lamented.
MINISTRY NOTIFIED
Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor Jonathan Bartley, told The Sunday Gleaner that the Parish Disaster Preparedness Committee and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security had been notified of the plight of the residents of Unity.
Moorefield, a neighbouring community, is also being monitored by the Trelawny Parish Council, as rising torrents are threatening at least fifty homes.
"The water is coming from St. James through the Phoenix property and backs up at Moorefield," said Mayor Bartley. "There is a blocked drain, a section of which was cleaned by the council three months ago, that should carry the water from the Moorefield Pond into the Martha Brae River."
COMMUNITIES CUT OFF
He explained that the situation had him ill and uneasy, as some five communities would be cut off from the rest of the parish if the water did not recede.
Elsewhere in the parish, the Tyre to Wilson Run main road in south Trelawny was inundated on Friday morning. There was a minor land slippage on the Mahogany Hall main road near the border of Manchester.
Twenty-seven shelters were opened across the parish but were sparsely utilised. As a precautionary measure, inmates at the Falmouth Infirmary, which is located on the seafront, were evacuated to the William
Knibb School. The facility was not affected however, and remains in tact.
