Clarendon's Parish disaster committee has been making preparation for this hurricane season, but its chairman, Mayor Milton Brown, is concerned about the state of some drains on the plains and the possibilities of land-slides in the hills.

"A hurricane would be devastating for us," Mayor Brown tells The Sunday Gleaner. He said that despite many of the drains being cleaned recently, the parish council has been forced to focus its attention on the rehabilitation of broken drains rather than cleaning.

He adds that the council has diverted three months of its road-maintenance funds to drain-cleaning, but notes that the money at their disposal is not enough to tackle major drains there.

Road-maintenance funds

In the hilly areas of Clarendon, Mayor Brown says he is concerned about breakaways and slippages, which may be brought on by heavy rains. "We have not lost any lives in this parish recently from land slippages, but I am concerned about a rainy season," he tells The Sunday Gleaner.

Come Tuesday, June 5, stake-holders in the parish meet to discuss parish disaster plans, but with limited funding available to do drain cleaning and to address possible areas where land slippages may occur, the mayor admits that the hurricane season makes him "nervous".