A section of the roadway in Cane River, Bull Bay, St. Andrew, broke away after heavy rain from Hurricane Wilma pounded the island on Tuesday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
AND THE floods came. Heavy brown waters rushing down streets, into houses, submerging cars and everything in its path. Filling gullies, dislodging rocks, breaking river banks and pushing land away from houses, 'Wilma' had released her deluge on the unsuspecting island.
Jamaica, like a sitting duck, was unprepared for Wilma's wrath. The commercial districts did not have time to benefit from anxious shoppers, as a sprinkle of rain burst into thunder storms even as the people struggled to retain normalcy against the onslaught.
TRAFFIC JAMS
Those who were fortunate enough to be able to get out of their homes and attempt to get to work, were faced with tremendous traffic jams that at times caused delays in excess of five hours. The Mandela Highway in particular, sections of which were completely inundated, was this past week the scene of traffic jams that went on for miles. Since Tuesday, travelling on that major roadway, in any direction and at any time of the day took an average of three to four hours. This has raised serious concerns particularly among residents of the Portmore community who have now put to question the viability of the roadway as an evacuation route in the event of natural disasters.
Students at all levels of the education system, except for those at the University of the West Indies, got an extra holiday as schools were ordered shut by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture.
Proceedings in the courts islandwide were also disrupted by the heavy rains. Jurors, witnesses and even some accused were unable to attend court. The cases were set for mention on various dates later this month.
Again, the agricultural sector suffered a setback as several acres of produce were destroyed by the heavy rains. Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke, said while the assessments have not been completed, preliminary assessments indicate that the coffee industry, sugar cane and vegetables were badly affected.
SOUTHERN PARISHES HARDEST HIT
He said most of the damage was concentrated in the southern parishes of St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.
Politicians, especially Members of Parliaments (MPs) have a lot of work to do as all constituencies were affected one way or the other. In some, livestock and agricultural items perished, while roads in some other constituencies were badly damaged or destroyed, not to mention the physical infrastructure. In coming days, MPs' usual cries about the inadequacy of their paltry Social and Economic Support Programme fund are expected to be heard loudly.
