Montego Bay returning to normal after Friday flooding

Normality is slowly returning to sections of Montego Bay, St James that were flooded after heavy rains drenched the resort town on Friday.

It marked the second time in nearly four months that heavy rains caused major flooding in the western city.

The National Works Agency (NWA) says most of the flooding occurred in the downtown Montego Bay area and along the corridor close to the Sangster International Airport.

Vehicles were disabled, and at least one overturned during the heavy rains.

Communications Manager at the NWA, Stephen Shaw said that high tide dumped water, sand and other debris onto the roadway near the airport.

However, he says the roadway has since been cleared.

It’s reported that crews contracted by the St James Municipal Corporation cleared the debris in downtown Montego Bay.

In the meantime the People’s National Party (PNP) is criticising the government and the St James Municipal Corporation for failing to take the necessary action that could have prevented a repeat of the flooding in Montego Bay.

Heavy rains last November caused major flooding in downtown Montego Bay.

Opposition spokesperson on local government Angela Brown Burke said, following this, it was expected that the St James Municipal Corporation would have taken steps to identify the contributing factors and put measures in place to protect residents and business in the western city.

Brown Burke says if the government had taken seriously, its responsibility to the people of Montego Bay, the necessary actions would have been taken to ensure that the drains were cleaned and flood mitigation systems put in place.

She called for the government to urgently provide the necessary funding to clear the drains in Montego Bay and urged the Mayor of Montego Bay to immediately begin enforcing the provisions of the anti-litter act.

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