Kelly's World | Are we storm ready? (no, not those)

I don't mean to sound like, or try to be, a harbinger of doom, but anyhow Jamaica gets hit by a natural disaster of epic proportions soon, dog nyam wi supper!

I am no disaster preparedness and emergency expert (not even an amateur). Nor do I have any form of qualification in the engineering or construction fields.

But I feel Jamaicans would be in dire straits for two reasons.

First, in my view, certain critical roadways and intersections get flooded as two drop a rain come dung.

Let's take last week Tuesday's heavy rains, for example. The 'many waters like Hellshire' (as Rosie told us about a few years ago) came rushing down like a plague on Egypt.

Automobiles could not take the pressure and decided they would go no further.

There were also WhatsApp videos aplenty of roads being undermined in quick time. All the roadwork taking place simultaneously certainly doesn't help.

So what if we get a nice, slow-moving storm right now? Yep, exactly.

But the second reason I'm not sure we'd make it is because I don't think we always work well together. And, yes, I'm being a pessimist.

 

TRAFFIC JAM

 

I had to head downtown after the showers and traffic was literally bumper to bumper, and the problem was exacerbated by the reluctance of motorists to be patient.

So there was plenty of bumping and boring at certain intersections, because no one wanted to yield.

Imagine trying to escape a tsunami that way.

Now, I know that we can't stop storms, whether literal or figurative, from coming.

Breast cancer reminds me of a nasty category five hurricane, especially in terms of the way it can wreck lives.

You may not be able to prevent it, but you can take precautions and put yourself at least in a stable state of readiness.

Except Jamaicans are not known for being prepared for the potential storms life can throw at us.

We always seem to not pay attention to the possibility of the worst-case scenario actually coming true.

For instance, we all know that Jamaicans could be told a year in advance that a hurricane was coming, and it's when the clouds start turning grey that we would start buy di bully beef.

Same thing with breast cancer. Women are afraid to do the tests to possibly detect any lumps or issues early.

Some even say they don't try to eat healthy because it's too expensive. Well, so is the cancer treatment if the disease decides to invade your body.

But as I talk about storms, I'm heartened by one thing.

No matter how cantankerous we can be, Jamaicans do know how to help each other when the storms of whatever kind really hit us.

So if Miss G roof blow off, the community will help.

And it's the same way that if your mom, aunt, friend or co-worker has breast cancer, I know there will be someone there to boost her spirits, or just give her a shoulder to cry on.

We can't prevent life's storms, but we can face them together. C'mon, Jamaicans, prove my pessimistic side wrong.

- Link me at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com