Portland Disaster Committee and NWA Working to Assist Communities Affected by Heavy Rains

Members of the Portland Disaster Committee are working feverishly to restore normality to communities affected by Thursday’s heavy rainfall.
The rains, which fell all day and throughout the night, caused extensive damage to roadways, landslides and flooding, which resulted in the death of one person and many persons marooned due to road blockages.The National Works Agency (NWA) has been busy clearing blocked roads in an effort to allow for at least single lane traffic on some roads.
Various organizations comprising the Portland Disaster Committee, met in an emergency session today (November 24), to make an assessment of the situation in the parish and to determine the emergency needs.
Among the organizations in attendance were the Portland Parish Council, the Portland Fire Department, the Portland Health Department, the Salvation Army, the Portland Red Cross, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Police.
Addressing the meeting, Portland Disaster Committee Co-ordinator, Denise Lewis said the situation in the parish was being carefully monitored, in order to ensure that affected communities are provided with the necessary assistance.
She noted that emergency shelters were opened last night in the communities of Buff Bay and Orange Bay, where persons whose homes were flooded, were accommodated.
Miss Lewis noted that the accommodation was temporary, as those persons have since returned to their homes.Also addressing the meeting was Winston Palmer, NWA Parish Manager, who said his organization was working to assess the situation in the parish, and to clear the blocked roads in the affected communities.
He pointed out that most of the blocked roads have been cleared to accommodate single lane traffic, adding that a section of the main road between Port Antonio and Nonsuch and a part of the London Main road in the Rio Grande Valley were completely blocked by landslides and boulders. He said every effort was being made to clear those roads as quickly as possible, and that roads which have been reduced to single lane traffic included those in the communities of Belleview, Mill Bank and Cornwall Barracks.