Schools to be used as shelters, if needed

Jamaican schools were put on alert on Tuesday that they might be used as emergency shelters if necessary as Tropical Storm Sandy approaches

Grace Mclean, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, said briefings had been sent to schools advising them to activate their emergency preparations and to remind them that some schools are designated emergency shelters.

She added that parents and guardians should use their own judgement when deciding whether it's safe to send their children to school after today.

Citing personal safety as “usually the first point of order”; she said the ministry was “encouraging parents to listen to bulletins as they will get the information much faster ……. And depending on where they live and the kind of challenges they face to get home.”