Parishes preparing for possible effects of Tropical Storm Melissa

 

The Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) is moving to mitigate the possible effects of the passage of Tropical Storm Melissa.

 

The Parish Disaster and Climate Change Committee of the KSAMC met on Tuesday and discussed the possible effects of the storm. 

 

Parish Disaster Coordinator Terry Forrester says resources are being prepared and moved into position. 

 

"We have been in contact with our shelter managers. We have also been in contact with our agencies through sharing of information through our WhatsApp groups. We are also outfitting some of our shelter managers with new gears, which include waterboots and raincoats, so that they are able to go out and sufficiently manage or weather the storm on their way to the shelter or to assist other persons.... We are awaiting further instructions from the national system as to how we are to progress, but we are putting plans in place that when and if that happens we are able to activate what is needed."

 

She said public education material will also be disseminated, including emergency contact numbers that persons should know.

 

In the meantime, Mayor of Kingston and Chairman of the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation Andrew Swaby said work was undertaken early on in the hurricane season to get ready for any eventuality.

 

"We would have conducted our drain cleaning exercise at the beginning of the hurricane season as normal. We always started with the drains on the coastal side of the city and that has been successful. We believe that there are a fair amount of them that are in good condition. 

 

"While government - and when I say government, [I'm] also speaking of the local authority - has certain responsibility and their main responsibility right now is to disseminate the information, we all have a personal responsibility. We know where we live. We know what happens in the past and we should try our best to make sure that it doesn't happen again. If the rain is heavy or fall for a prolonged period of time, yes the area might be flooded, but if the area is full of water, it is best to go somewhere else during that period or go into a shelter," he urged.

 

 

The St. James Municipal Corporation has said the parish is in a state of readiness for the passage of Tropical Storm Melissa. 

 

Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon said several drain cleaning projects were completed over the last week to ensure that middle drains in Montego Bay can manage the flow of water.

 

"Of course, we have a capacity issue that remains, so let us put that out there first and foremost. Nonetheless we continue to do other drain cleaning exercises across the municipality. The concillors have received their allocation for August which is dedicated to drain cleaning and they have commenced the clearing of inlets and outlets for those critical drains across the parish," he advised.

 

Mr. Vernon said shelter inspections were conducted to ensure the facilities are up to standard. 

 

"We did training with the shelter managers and we are also putting the necessary things in place for the homeless shelter which would be Jarrett Park and also the [Montego Bay] Convention Centre got to be used for the tourists pertaining to displacement if that should happen."

 

 

The National Works Agency (NWA) said works done on the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) in St. Thomas have helped to address previous flooding concerns. 

 

NWA Communication Manager Stephen Shaw said additional and high capacity drainage features were constructed to be able to channel water away from flood-prone areas.

 

Mr. Shaw said, though flooding may still occur, it will be less severe.

 

"The downtime for these sections of roads should be far less than before the intervention of the works on the SCHIP. So when we look at areas such as Golden Grove, Port Morant, these are areas that would have benefitted under the SCHIP. We still have a bit of outstanding work out at Bowden where we are making new that stretch of road. We had to await NEPA's permission because it's a wetland that we are going through and that approval took sometime in coming, but we are committed to having the road completed through this area and we seek to improve the travel time between Kingston, St. Thomas and Portland," the communication manager outlined.

 

Meanwhile, Chairman of the St. Thomas Municipal Corporation and mayor of Morant Bay, Louis Chin said mobilisation has begun to ready the parish for the effects of Tropical Storm Melissa.

 

He said the authorities are cleaning critical drains in the parish, while equipment is on standby to respond to any eventuality. 

 

He added that there will be another emergency meeting with the disaster coordinator to fine-tune the parish's disaster response. 

 

 

Mayor of Portmore Leon Thomas says the municipality has made preparation for the likelihood of flooding arising from the passage of Tropical Storm Melissa. 

 

"Well, we have a lot of preparation already done. As I said, drain cleaning started from as early as April and it's an ongoing thing within the municipality. And we have our equipment on standby, just in case we have any major flooding. We have equipment on standby where we can release those blockage if needs be," said Mr. Thomas. 

 

 

The St. Elizabeth Municipal Corporation says all shelter managers in the parish are in emergency mode. 

 

Mayor of St. Elizabeth, Richard Solomon, says the disaster committee is now pre-positioning relief supplies at shelters should they be needed.

 

He is urging residents in low lying areas to take the necessary steps to ensure their safety during the passage of Tropical Storm Melissa. 

 

Mr. Solomon is also urging the National Works Agency to carry out emergency cleaning of drains in known flood-prone areas such as Holland Bamboo and Goshen.