Hurricane Preparations in Top Gear in Westmoreland

Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, Councillor Danree Delancy, says Westmoreland is prepared for the hurricane season, which began on June 1.

In an interview with JIS News, the Mayor pointed out that hurricane preparedness activities in the parish commenced in March.

“We started what you could call light preparation from that time, which continues up to the present. Most of the shelters have been inspected and marked for use during emergencies to ensure that the public has safe and accessible spaces just in case we have a disaster and must relocate persons to these shelters,” Councillor Delancy said.

He further asserted that the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation has initiated a comprehensive educational and awareness campaign, aimed at enlightening the populace.

“Sessions are ongoing; they are taking place in schools, churches, corporate entities and basically anywhere there are persons gathered. Community engagement is another key activity which we have started. We have been visiting various fora where we have one-on-one sessions with residents, where they have the opportunity to ask questions, share their concerns and receive direct feedback from us as a local authority,” Councillor Delancy informed.

The Mayor added that training activities have also been done with first responders, and walk-throughs done in several communities across the parish.

He also highlighted that government agency collaborations have, so far, contributed greatly to hurricane preparedness in the parish.

“One such agency is the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), which has reported that they have implemented several initiatives aimed at restoring power more swiftly after outages which may be caused by a hurricane,” he said.

Councillor Delancy added that while some drain-cleaning activities have been done in the parish, more can still be done, as areas in the parish are still being affected by flooding.

The Mayor is encouraging citizens to be vigilant this hurricane season and take all warnings from the relevant authorities seriously.