Flooded canals in Greater Portmore gullies caused by Saturday's rains. - Andrew Smith / Staff Photographer AN AERIAL tour of six parishes by Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) helicopter yesterday showed only moderate damage from weekend flood rains, according to Government and agency officials.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) led the tour of St. Catherine, Clarendon, Portland, St. Thomas and Kingston and St. Andrew.
Included in the party were Dean Peart, Minister of Land and Environment; Ivan Anderson, chief executive officer of the National Works Agency (NWA); Paul Saunders, deputy director-general of the ODPEM and Philbert Brown, senior director in the Ministry of Land and Environment.
Minister Peart said, "We didn't think it was as bad as was originally thought."
Mr. Saunders noted that damage to houses appeared minimal, while the agricultural sector seemed to be most-affected. Flooding of sugar cane fields in Clarendon and erosion of river banks in Portland were evident. Mr. Saunders said that damage assessments will continue over the next few days in order to better appraise the impact to people on the ground.
PORTLAND ROADS AFFECTED
Ivan Anderson said that landslides had affected main roads in Portland in the communities of Breastworks and Fellowship in the Rio Grande valley. Equipment, he said, has already been deployed to clear the roads, as well as those by the Chalky River in eastern St. Andrew. Personnel from the ODPEM and the Ministry of Land and Environment are putting together a report to submit to Cabinet on Monday to obtain emergency funding.
Concerning the flooded drains in Greater Portmore, Philbert Brown said that if funds are obtained from Monday's Cabinet submission they will be utilised to clean the drains.
And with regards to the replacing of the temporary Bailey bridge over the Yallahs River, Minister Peart felt that the best way to replace it would be with another temporary bridge which could be built within two months. He said that asking motorists to take the alternative route via the Easington bypass for two years while a permanent bridge is being built would be counter-productive. The matter, he noted, is however still under discussion.
