Robert Lalah/Dionne RoseStaff Reporters
CARBY
FOOD DROPS by helicopter into marooned communities and clearing of blocked roads continued apace yesterday as the nation tried to recover from the impact of Hurricane Dennis.
The destruction caused by last week's torrential rains and strong winds associated with the hurricane had emergency organizations and utility companies working feverishly to get things back to normal. This was how far the recovery had reached up to press time yesterday:
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) continued its efforts yesterday to get emergency supplies and food to communities that were inaccessible to vehicular traffic.
HELICOPTERS USED
Dr. Barbara Carby, director-general of ODPEM, said Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) helicopters were still being used to make drops in the cut-off communities.
"The plan ... is to take food into the area of Penlyne Castle (in St. Thomas) and those communities, which are cut off up there. So we will do as many food drops into those communities as we can, in between the evacuation of the medical emergencies, which are the priorities," she said.
Food drops were also made in the areas of Halls Delight, Content Gap, Cascade, St. Peter's, Westphalia and Petersfield in the Blue Mountains of east St. Andrew.
Dr. Carby also disclosed that several shelters have been closed. "There were only 370 persons in shelters on Saturday evening. So most people are now going home, trying to clean up and dry out their belongings," she said.
Meanwhile, the National Works Agency (NWA) reported some success in the islandwide clean-up effort. Workmen from the agency were out in numbers in several parishes across the island yesterday, carrying out work on roads blocked by storm related debris.
Petra-Keane Williams, acting communications manager at the NWA said yesterday, that 70 per cent of roads which were blocked by debris had been cleared.
She said the agency was carrying out clean-up work on over 33 roads in St. Mary which were inundated with debris. These included the roads from Port Maria to Islington, Little Bay to Oracabessa, Oracabessa to White Hall and Windsor Castle to Pear Tree Grove.
Ms. Williams also noted that the NWA was carrying out work to clear landslides in St. Andrew, which blocked the Mavis Bank Road as well as the Constitution Hill and Irish Spring Roads.
And the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), said the restoration of electricity supply to the entire island will be delayed until about Thursday.
Winsome Callum, corporate communications manager at the JPS said yesterday, that full restoration would take a bit longer than expected, as the damage to transmission lines and poles have been found to be more significant than was anticipated.
She said there were about 11,000 JPS customers islandwide who were without electricity. She noted however, that technical teams were carrying out repairs, and surmised that about half of that number should have had their power turned back on by last night.
In the meantime, The National Water Commission (NWC) has reported that 82 per cent of its water supply systems are back in operation.
Charles Buchanan, public relations manager at the NWC, spoke with The Gleaner yesterday.
"...The NWC can confirm that of its 460 water supply systems across the country at least 380 of those are back in operation. The main reason for the remaining 75 still being out of operation continues to be a very high turbidity level," he said.
Mr. Buchanan noted also that dislocated pipelines and a lack of electricity are also hampering the NWC's efforts to return to full operation.
In the meantime, he urged the public to continue to treat drinking water with bleach or by boiling.
Rohan Cupid contributed to this story.
