Portland Prepares for Hurricane Emily

Preparations are in high gear in Portland for Hurricane Emily, which is threatening the island, even as the parish struggles to recover from the ravages of Hurricane Dennis on July 7.
Portland’s Disaster Co-ordinator, Kimberley Bryan told JIS News that all of the parish’s emergency shelters have been re-opened and all the zonal committees mobilized to deal with the possible effects of the storm.
She said the passage of hurricane Emily would pose a particular challenge to the parish as all available resources were already stretched to assist persons and communities affected by Hurricane Dennis.
Miss Bryan said that despite the challenges, the Portland Disaster Committee has been making every effort to ensure that the parish was fully prepared for the storm.
She noted that special focus was being placed on areas which were affected by flooding, landslides and other adverse features of hurricane Dennis, and that the process of relocating persons living in flood prone and low lying areas of the parish to emergency shelters would commence this evening (July 15) as a precautionary measure.
Miss Bryan pointed out that removal would begin with residents in communities which were flooded during the passage of hurricane, and that she was appealing to those persons to make a special effort to co-operate with the relocation teams.
She noted that the Portland Emergency Centre would be put into operation today at the Port Antonio Fire Station for the purpose of co-ordinating activities relating to the passage of Hurricane Emily.