Nine-year-old Akilah Leves, a student of Port Maria Primary School, sweeps mud from one of the classrooms that was flooded out in the parish yesterday. - photo by Norman Grindley /Deputy Chief Photographer

Port Maria resident, Sharon Smith's four-bedroom house had chest-high waters passing through it last Thursday. Her daughter's seven-month-old baby had to be taken to higher ground for safety.

When The Sunday Gleaner visited yesterday morning, Ms. Smith and her daughter, Verona Hylton, were hard at work attempting to wash the soiled furniture in the yard outside their home. Ms, Smith said she had to be sleeping on a chair because her mattress had been soaked. "Nobody came to even look to see what happened to me," said the teary-eyed woman. "Even if they just came and say sorry for what has happened, I would feel much better."

Yesterday, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) opened a shelter at the Port Maria Gospel Chapel, while the Anglican Church Hall and the Port Maria High School were on standby. The agency says it will continue today to concentrate on delivering supplies to and assessing the welfare needs of persons worst affected in the parishes of Portland, St. Mary and St. Ann.

The National Works Agency continued to clear landslides in Portland yesterday while the Salvation Army and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security attended to several communities in the parish to which roadways remained cut off. These communities are Coopers Hill, Chatsworth, Burbon, Moore Town and Maidston.

ODPEM flood tips

Do not attempt to cross flooded gullies, rivers and streams.

Keep essential documents in water-proof containers or plastic bags.

Monitor the radio.