Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Pedestrians view a massive landslide, which blocked a section of Gordon Town Road, St. Andrew, yesterday. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
FOR WHAT seemed like an eternity, Devon McFarlane sat in his car, staring helplessly at the mud-splattered road that leads to his home in Irish Town, where his girlfriend and 12-year-old daughter were waiting.
A 10-year resident of Irish Town, Mr. McFarlane said he went through this anxiety whenever heavy rains such as those associated with Hurricane Wilma hit the hilly region of St. Andrew.
"It's very frustrating; this situation gets worse every year. Since the rain we have had boulders in the road and one or two land slippages," he told The Gleaner yesterday, before heading back to Papine.
Rafael Harley, a resident of nearby Maryland district, got a scare when the supporting wall to the hillside home he and his brother share gave way in a precipitous plunge. According to Mr. Harley, the wall was built as a buffer between the steep descent to the main road but was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
CRACKED UNDER PRESSURE
Eventually, it cracked under the pressure of Wilma's squalls and Mr. Harley claimed that the National Works Agency (NWA) said it was unable to repair it immediately because of insufficient funds.
Rainfall from Hurricane Wilma has carved out reminders on roads heading to Irish Town and Gordon Town, with boulders and silt lining their path. Most of the roads were partially blocked, while others had been eroded by five days of continuous rain.
Just before noon, the road to Gordon Town was blocked. A team from the NWA was there from 4:00 a.m. manning bulldozers in another attempt to clear the narrow ascent which had been repeatedly affected since last week.
"This (land slippage) has been going on for a day now; we clear it and it comes down again," said Michael Clarke, a supervisor with the NWA. "This type of soil is susceptible to this kind of weather so there are problems whenever it rains."
Mr. Clarke told The Gleaner that the NWA has been in the area since Saturday, working in some of the most badly affected sections of east rural St. Andrew, such as Mavis Bank. He said the Government agency would be moving appropriate equipment there to ensure its main roads are passable.
