By Richard Morais,
Freelance Writer
HEAVY RAINS, associated with a cold front just north of the island over the past two days, dumped several inches of rain on north coast communities Sunday night into early yesterday morning causing flooded streets and landslides.
Nearly two continuous hours of rain in Falmouth left at least six streets flooded -- Cornwall, Trelawny, Pitt, Princess, Newton and Albert Streets, while two sections of the Wakefield to Falmouth main road, as well as near the community of Rock, about two kilometres to the east of the capital town, were under several feet of water up to late yesterday afternoon.
At least one resident, Lurline Earle, blamed the flooding on blocked drains which she charged the municipal authorities failed to clear, despite repeated complaints.
"I have reported the drains to the authorities many times only to be told that plans are being made to deal with the problem but nothing of significance is done," she told The Gleaner.
Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor Joseph Wright, has since pledged to make a submission to the Ministry of Local Government as soon as he gets into office today. But he urged residents that should life and property be threatened, contact should be made with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).
Sections of St. James were also flooded, including Creek Street, Glendevon, Ironshore and Great Pond.
Meanwhile, ODPEM has reported flooding and landslides in at least four other parishes. In Portland, there was flooding in Land Settlement where three families were affected. There was also flooding in Halls Avenue in Port Antonio as well as Hope Bay.
The ODPEM said a landslide destroyed a house in Moore Town but no one was injured.
The Tranquility road was blocked by a landslide. The alternative route is via Rose Hill to Carlton Gap to the Mabess River Bridge, through Bybrook and continuing on through Berek Spring Road.
There were several landslides along the Buff Bay to Hardware Gap road. Motorists are advised to proceed with extreme caution along this road.
In St. Mary, a section of the Junction Road between Devon Pen and Friendship Gap was blocked by a landslide which the Public Works Department (PWD) eventually clear yesterday afternoon. The bridge at Fort George has been washed out and the alternative route is impassable. Flooding also occurred in the Richmond community.
The ODPEM reported flooding in Mount Edgecombe, Lakeside Park and Hampstead in St. Ann while sections of the Runaway Bay main road remained under water for most of the day.
The Friendship Park Road in St. Andrew was blocked by a landslide last night.
With the rains continuing, the Met Service issued a flash flood watch for low lying and flood prone areas of these parishes.
