Old Pen Road in Hanover Impassable

Motorists are being advised to avoid the Old Pen Road in Hanover, as rising floodwater from the district of Chigwell, has made the roadway impassable. “It is recommended that nobody at all should attempt to go through that body of water,” said Disaster Preparedness Coordinator for the parish, Fae Headley.
Old Pen Road is the main thoroughfare between the districts of Bamboo and Chigwell. Motorists who travel that route, are being advised to use the alternative path from Flint River to Cold Spring, then through Gurneys Mount and then onto Chigwell.
She further encouraged persons not to swim in the water as it might be contaminated.
In the meantime, she said that the Hanover Public Health Department is doing fogging “to control the terrible mosquito infestation there.”
Mrs. Headley said that while the rising water has not necessitated the opening of any emergency shelters in the area, efforts are being made to secure relief food items for the aged in the affected districts, as those persons are having difficulty moving about to replenish supplies.
She told JIS News that the situation is being closely monitored by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, the Water Resources Conservation Authority and the Hanover Health Department.
In the meantime, the Parish Disaster Coordinator said that floodwaters, which made the eastern Hanover districts of Forrest and Pierces Village inaccessible earlier in the month, are now receding.