Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter
Residents of Hill Side in St. Thomas access the damage yesterday to a building due to landsline caused by the passage of Hurricane Emily. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
WESTERN BUREAU:
HUNDREDS OF persons are now marooned across the island after flooding associated with the passage of Hurricane Emily on Saturday, destroyed roads rendering them impassable even to disaster relief officials.
"We can't access the areas at all and it is unfortunate because many of them ignored pleas for them to evacuate and now they are trapped," Yvonne Morrison, Disaster Co-ordinator for St. Elizabeth, told The Gleaner yesterday.
"An assessment team from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) has gone out to some areas but they are under water so their work will be hampered."
Ms. Morrison said that the community of Big Woods, which was flooded by Hurricane Charley last year, is now cut off from other sections of the parish.
STILL IN SHELTERS
Other flooded communities are Vineyard, Arlington, Follows-wood, Middle Quarters, Slipe, Whitehall, Pedro Plains, Treasure Beach and Watchwell.
Some 93 persons occupied 10 shelters accross the parish during the passage of the hurricane and of that number, Maggotty High School is still occupied by 12 families or 31 persons.
In the parish of Trelawny, the communities of Wakefield, Moorefield and Hampden were isolated due to impassable roads.
Flooding was reported in the communities of Hague, Cornwall, Pitt, Newton, Jones Hole, Bunkers Hill and Logwood Valley.
According to Disaster Coordinator for the parish, Dion Hylton, 100 persons had sought shelter in the parish - 24 stayed at the Unity Primary School; 15 at Campbell's Church, near Sherwood Content; the entire Falmouth Infirmary population of 67 persons stayed at the William Knibb High School; and four stayed at the Lowe River Primary.
- Richard Morais contributed to this story.
