Grace but no mercy: Storm drenches eastern Jamaica

Jamaica escaped the full wrath of Tropical Storm Grace but the weather system left a canvas of catastrophe as it glanced the island's northeast, leaving roads littered with downed utility poles and fallen trees, homes swamped, vehicles disabled, with sparking electricity wires providing a freakish light show.

The storm's gusty winds brought heavy rainfall that drenched a wide swathe of the island, its arc of agony extending anticlockwise from St Catherine to St Mary.

Powerful winds in St Mary and Portland meted out losses to banana and plantain farmers, while a section of the roofing of the Annotto Bay Fire Station was blown away.

Mayor of Port Maria Richard Creary reported that a tree had fallen on a house on Cock Street and a roof was destroyed in Islington, but no lives were lost.

The Bull Bay main road in St Andrew and Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston were among the impassable corridors, and in St Catherine, the Bog Walk Gorge was closed.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) reported late Tuesday that the Hordley Crossing in the Golden Grove area of St Thomas was blocked. Batchelor's Hall and the Sunning Hill intersection with Bath were also impassable at sections.

Dozens of fallen trees and debris blocked sections of the main thoroughfare from Dolphin Bay in eastern Portland to Buff Bay, reducing traffic flow to single lane.

Member of Parliament for Portland Eastern, Ann-Marie Vaz, said that workmen were out clearing several roadways.

“This is being done by our citizens and also with the help of the contractors who are working on the South Coast Highway,” Vaz said.

There were also reports of flooding in various St Mary communities, including Highgate, Richmond, Prospect, Belfield, Harmony Hall, White Hall, and Ballards Valley.

There were also reports of slippages and flooding in east and west rural St Andrew.

Government officials will begin totting up the flood bill weeks after Tropical Storm Elsa left a preliminary disaster estimate of $803 million - compounding the woe from a series of storms harking back to October and November 2020 when Eta and Zeta left an $8-billion bill.

At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, acting director general of ODPEM, Richard Thompson, told The Gleaner that three of the island's 867 official shelters had been activated.

The emergency shelter at Lawrence Tavern Primary School in St Andrew was opened in response to reports of flooding, but Thompson could not confirm if anyone had turned up for cover.

Meanwhile, two elderly people sought refuge at Annotto Bay Primary in St Mary and an elderly man at Harbour View Primary in St Andrew.

Thompson said that all shelters were outfitted with an isolation area for suspected COVID-19 cases and reiterated that temperature checks, sanitisation, and mask wearing would be mandatory.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) reported damage to its power network, which affected customers in sections of Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine, St Thomas, St Mary, and St Ann. The majority of customers in Portland were expected to sleep under the blanket of pitch darkness Tuesday night as weather conditions posed danger to work crews.

In a press statement on Tuesday afternoon, Director of Corporate Communications Winsome Callum said it was still too early to report on the full extent of the damage.

“But we have got numerous reports of trees coming down on power lines and landslides dislocating poles. Blocked roads, along with intense lightning, wind and rain in some areas make it difficult for our teams to start restoration work. The teams are, therefore, continuing damage assessment at this time, and will start restoration as soon as it is safe to do so,” the statement read.

Appealing for patience from customers, Callum stressed that safety protocols must be observed by JPS teams in order to protect life and property.

“They must first do damage assessment, then carry out repairs, before turning on the power,” she said.

At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the centre of Tropical Storm Grace was located about five miles south of Montego Bay or 28 miles east of Negril Point.

The Meteorological Service said the centre of Grace would continue to move near or over northwestern Jamaica and then to the Cayman Islands between Tuesday night and early Wednesday. Grace is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane on Wednesday.

Up to press time, the tropical storm warning remained in effect for Jamaica.