Ida romps to hurricane status leaving a trail of devastation

Ida intensified rapidly on Friday from a tropical storm to a hurricane as it crossed western Cuba late in the evening. From Thursday evening into Friday, the weather system dumped several inches of rain on Jamaica, causing major flooding and landslide across the island.

The National Hurricane Center predicted Ida would strengthen into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with top winds of 140 mph (225 kph) before making landfall along the US Gulf Coast late Sunday. Ida aims to hit New Orleans on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

“This will be a life-altering storm for those who aren’t prepared,” National Weather Service meteorologist Benjamin Schott said during a news conference on Friday.

Ida made its first landfall Friday afternoon on Cuba’s southern Isle of Youth, but it severely impacted Jamaica along its north-westerly track.

ST ANDREW

‘Our lives are in danger’

The banks of the Chalky River located beside Weise Road in Bull Bay, St Andrew, ruptured on Thursday morning owing to the torrential weather brought on by Tropical depression nine, which later developed into Tropical Storm Ida.

Residents of Weise Road were confronted with mounds of silt and large rocks creating high stacks, fencing them inside their homes. Several were forced to flee their homes.

“Our lives are in danger,” said a resident who gave her name only as Julie. Pleading for the prime minister’s intervention, she told The Gleaner that she could not leave her house as her gates were sealed shut with large rocks and silt.

Learning from past experiences, she pointed to additional cement blocks to the wall separating her from her neighbour, noting that things would have been worse if she hadn’t heightened the wall.

Others weren’t so lucky as Junior Robinson had to leave his dwelling behind. With no possible route to take to enter his home, he told The Gleaner that he is currently living further up in the community which is experiencing better conditions despite the heavy rains.

Robinson blamed the construction in the area last year October for the disaster, which he said caused the gabion basket to burst – an erosion tool made with galvanised wire and filled with stones.

As this is the third incident of the river’s banks crumbling due to heavy rainfall, residents are tired of the situation and have taken upon themselves to try and fix the problem for the safety of those living close to the bank.

They have gathered large rocks to build a temporary gabion basket structure, piling rocks on one another with the hope that this will ease their frustrations, redirecting floodwater to the river.

“A just the basket we need, if we get the basket we alright,” said Robinson.

– Asha Wilks

ST CATHERINE

‘Our roads are now swimming pools’

Heavy rains associated with Ida pelted the parish of St Catherine over the last two days, causing flooding on a number of streets in Spanish Town and several communities.

A number of roads were left impassable both to pedestrians and motorists.

Residents of Willowdene, faced with a long-standing problem of bad road conditions, were unable to get out of their houses due to the flooded roads.

“The flooding of the main roadways is a very big problem for us whenever we have this kind of rainfall, and this has been so for a number of years now. Right now some persons are unable to get out of their houses because of the flooding,” said resident Maurice Pinnock.

“The roads are so bad that they have turned into pools that we could literally swim in. We really need someone to take up the cause of doing something to the roads; we are simply sick and tired of appealing to the authority for help.”

Keith Lattimore, a senior citizen in the community, said they have been appealing for the roads to be repaired for over 20 years now to no avail.

In Fairview Park, flooding along Fairfield Avenue triggered the overflow of raw sewage from the underground system along the road.

The Flat Bridge remained opened up to late Friday, so too was a section of the Bog Walk Gorge, after a massive landslide rendered it impassable on Thursday.

A team from the National Works Agency was able to clear the road. However, when our news team visited the Gorge late Friday afternoon, small land slippages were seen coming down on the hillside of the Gorge.

Meanwhile, residents in Stratmore Gardens will have to wait until the flooding along the main road in the community subside before they can venture out. Sections of the road were completely impassable to pedestrians when The Gleaner visited the community on Friday after the rains eased.

- Ruddy Mathison

CLARENDON

‘It is crazy, extremely crazy’

Heavy rains from Ida left residents in Smithville, Clarendon, marooned on Friday. Landslides, impassable roads and breakaways tell the tale of the showers that pelted the parish.

“I feel it for the people in Smithville because they are completely cut off. Some of those residents were stranded and had to sleep in Thompson Square last night in their car. They were assisted by some swimmers this morning (Friday). Right now their cars are still in Thompson Town because they had to walk...nothing can pass because the two major rivers are overflowed bank to bank,” said Collin Henry, councillor for the Thompson Town division.

“My division is in a deplorable condition. It is crazy, extremely crazy. We have 10 to 12 landslides on the roadways and some roads are now single-lane traffic due to breakaways. It’s just a mess.”

In Clarendon South Western, Toll Gate was one of the worst hit communities. Member of Parliament Lothan Cousins chided the National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited (NROCC) for the excess flooding, stating that recommendations he made prior to the construction of the highway were ignored.

“They’re the cause of the flooding in most parts of the constituency. Most areas are flooded because of the highway. I personally participated in several consultation meetings and we warned them over and over and they scoffed at our recommendations and criticism. We welcome the development but we must not be burdened by it,” Cousins told The Gleaner.

George Nicholson, acting managing director at NROCC, told The Gleaner that plans to implement drainage systems in the area are underway.

– Olivia Brown