Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Writer

The main road which leads from Mount Lebanus to Cedar Valley in St. Thomas was badly damaged by hurricanes Dennis and Emily in July 2005. - File

Hurricanes and storms very often come to Jamaica from the east coast, and St. Thomas normally takes the pounding.

In recent years, several lives have been lost in this parish owing to flooding, and properties have been damaged, some destroyed owing to the unslaught of heavy rains and winds.

And should a hurricane, or even heavy rains strike this parish, the Mayor, Joan Spence, says it may be devastating."We are about 75 per cent ready, but there are still a number of drains to be cleaned, and we are hoping that we could get some extra money so that we can do more work," she tells The Sunday Gleaner.

Urgent attention

"Our rivers, and some of our drains are not the responsibility of the parish councils it is the National Works Agency, and some of our rivers need to be desilted at this time," she added.

The rivers identified as being in need of urgent attention are the Yallahs River, which remains without a bridge; the Negro River, in Trinityville; Johnson River, in Seafort; and Mondecott, in Yallahs.

With the exception of the Yallahs River, which makes it impossible for vehicular traffic to traverse the normal route to Kingston, the other rivers normally overflow their banks resulting in flooding and in many instances, massive destruction.

While noting that the emergency shelters are in place should the need for them arise, Mayor Spence says the council lacks the necessary resources to do proper hurricane mitigation. The council, she says, has only $2.5 million to be allocated among 10 councillors for drain cleaning this month.