Extensive Damage to Roofs Along Coast of St. Elizabeth

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has reported that the roofs of 90 per cent of the houses in the Lover’s Leap area of St. Elizabeth were damaged by the strong winds associated with Hurricane Ivan.
In fact, along the coast of the parish of St. Elizabeth, the roofs of houses were either partially or totally blown off.
This was noted today by Nadene Newsome, Director of Information and Training at the ODPEM, at the JIS weekly ‘Think Tank’.
Information pertaining to the full extent of the damage, she said, was continuing to trickle in as the damage assessment team toured the area.So far, reports indicate that several major properties along the south coast of the parish have suffered tremendous damage from tidal surges. These surges were similar to those which ravaged the houses on Caribbean Terrace in Harbour View, Kingston.
There was also significant damage in areas such as Calabash Bay and Great Bay. “The flooding caused by the tidal surges was tremendous,” Miss Newsome said.
Extreme flooding has also been reported in Nain, with water rising to half the height of the houses. Miss Newsome said that reports from the parish of Manchester revealed wind damage to several roofs, schools and churches, and a few collapsed structures.
She pointed out that the damage assessment teams commenced evaluation work on the ground yesterday(September 14).
“We currently have seven damage assessment teams which are going out. Five from the United Nations Development Programme/ODPEM, and one from the National Environment and Planning Agency and another team from the Ministry of Land and Environment,” she said.
These teams are scheduled to visit Manchester, St. Elizabeth and the Blue Mountain Area of St. Andrew.