This week's featured overall development as Newsmaker of the Week is the range of developments surrounding Tropical Storm Rafael, especially the tragic deaths of two persons after it is believed that a motor vehicle in which they were travelling was washed away by floodwaters in Lluidas Vale, St Catherine during the weather system.
Rafael impacted Jamaica between November 4 and 5, bringing flood rains, landslides and blocked roadways that have left some residents marooned days after the system's passage.
The storm apparently also brought tragedy to two persons who were travelling on a flooded roadway in Lluidas Vale, one of the many areas that were flooded by the storm.
The deceased are 58-year-old Junior Gooden, a supervisor of Moneague, St Ann, and Terrica Green from St Catherine.
It was reported that during the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael on Tuesday, the vehicle in which the two were travelling got into difficulties while being driven in rising waters in the Lluidas Vale area.
A video went viral of the motor vehicle being swept away by the murky waters as the videographer looked on and could not assist.
The bodies were subsequently retrieved from inside the vehicle.
In stating that the incident is being probed, commanding officer for the St Catherine North Police Division, Superintendent Hopton Nicholson, said a post-mortem examination is to be done to determine the official cause of the deaths of the pair.
Even while the investigations are ongoing, questions are being asked about why the driver attempted to cross the flooded roadway, or why the two did not appear to have tried to escape from the vehicle.
Still, some social media users stressed the importance of heeding warnings about floodwaters, and also not underestimating the power of raging waters.
"This is just so sad on all levels... My deepest heartfelt sympathies and condolences to families and friends and co-workers.. May they both RIEP. May you RIEP, Junior Gooden," a woman wrote on Facebook.
"They didn't heed the warning not to drive through floodwater... It must have been traumatising," a woman posited.
In response, a man opined that, "A lot of people in Jamaica feel they can do what they want when they want, so the consequences are always there.
Junior Gooden
"Whether some get the chance to learn from their bad choices or not, that's another story," he added.
Commented a woman: "This is a sad moment for friends and family.
"My sincere condolences to both families and co-workers. I pray the families find comfort and strength at this time of their loss," she wrote.
A woman stated that, "Rafael (the storm), you were a bad little boy.
"I didn’t expect you to do this at all. We still get warnings, but we still continue to think we can make it. We always want to believe it’s a little water and we can navigate it. Sad outcome," she said.
Asked a man: "Boy Junior (Gooden), weh u did a go in that rain man? How you kids a go manage? Bredda, tek your rest, but yuh left wi shake up."
Terrica Green
Meanwhile, with Jamaicans still recovering from the wrath of Hurricane Beryl in July, many persons braced for Rafael's impact, which was less damaging to the country in some aspects, particularly in terms of widespread damage to houses and loss of electricity supply.
But in the end, the storm brought heavy rainfall, flooding, landslides and winds, affecting mostly the south-western and south-eastern parishes of St Catherine, St Thomas, Clarendon, Manchester and Westmoreland, where flooding was mostly reported.
And days after the storm's passage, some communities remain flooded, including Little London in Westmoreland, where inundated backyard graves and pit latrines caused concerns among residents, health officials and members of the political directorate up to Friday.
The submerged graves were particularly in the area of Bay Road in Little London.
Health officials warned residents there to take the necessary precautions, and not to venture into the water barefooted.
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor for the Little London Division, Ian Myles, told reporters on Thursday that the health department will have an important part to play in implementing measures relative to sanitisation once the waters recede from the area.
"Sanitising is going to be important, the way people put back their places in order, because water would have run through some of these houses as well.
"We have insects of all kinds that are now infesting people’s homes. You have the rodents, centipedes, you have the roaches, you name it," the councillor said.
On Friday, the authorities were making efforts to make contact with residents of a section of the McNeil Land community in Westmoreland, which was also extensively flooded by rainfalls associated with the storm.
A local newspaper said some residents in that community, with about 300 houses, had not been heard from since the storm's passage. Officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, as well as a team from the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), could not gain access to the area despite their efforts to do so between Thursday and Friday.
Before those developments, the National Works Agency (NWA), on Tuesday afternoon as the storm drifted away from the island, said it had not received significant road damage reports as a result of Tropical Storm Rafael.
NWA Communication and Customer Service Manager, Stephen Shaw, said then that there were reports of landslides in St Thomas, northern St Catherine, and flooding in sections of St Andrew.
Stephen Shaw
“Sections of Marcus Garvey Drive were flooded, but passable. Chesterfield Drive was rendered impassable, owing to water and garbage that came down onto the road in the Seaview Gardens area (of St Andrew), said Shaw.
“We have had some impact in the Guys Hill area (of St Catherine); also the road from Tavern to Vanity Fair (in St Andrew) has been impacted by a landslide, causing blockage," he added.
But the situation appears to be much worse in some sections of the island since that initial update from Shaw.
In addressing a post-Cabinet press briefing the following day, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said preliminary figures indicate that the damage from Tropical Storm Rafael could range between $500 million and $1 billion.
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for works, Robert Morgan, in giving a report on the storm’s impact, shared that there were 15 blocked roads, 10 flooded roads, minor damage to two roads, seven roads with single-lane access, and two roads that were impassable up to Wednesday.
“We did have damage. But it wasn’t as significant as what we have seen (with) the likes of Hurricane Beryl, so we must be thankful. We didn’t lose any roads really, but we had some significant landslides, particularly in West Rural St. Andrew,” Morgan said then.
However, up to Saturday morning, the Bog Walk Gorge, a major route connecting Spanish Town to Linstead in St Catherine, was completely blocked by large boulders which had fallen onto the roadway.
The roadway from Bartons to Ginger Ridge in St Catherine, particularly at Connors, was also fully blocked up to Friday.
Shaw said there were multiple impediments along the two roadways, stating that the Bog Walk Gorge was blocked at one section by massive boulders that will require being broken up before being removed.
There are also fallen trees at sections of the roadway, as well as blocked drains that are causing inundation.
He said the area from which the boulders were dislodged will likely be unstable, and will require some assessment before the area can be safely used by motorists.
While the gorge remains closed to motor vehicle access, commuters have been facing high fares to use the Edward Seaga (North-South) Highway, where motorists who normally use the gorge road have had to fork out toll fees to use the highway, or are faced with additional costs for the longer alternative routes through Sligoville or Barry, also in St Catherine.
Over in St Elizabeth, a section of the Raheen main road that connects the major towns of Maggoty and Balaclava to the southern portion of the parish collapsed after the area was inundated by rainwater associated with Tropical Storm Rafael. This has forced hundreds of persons trying to get to Santa Cruz and into Kingston to traverse a private and relatively unsafe cane piece road.
People's National Party caretaker candidate for North East St Elizabeth, Zuleika Jess, called on the relevant stakeholders, including the NWA, to mobilise funds to fix the collapsed road, as it is vital to residents.
“We have children who have to be going to school. We have farmers who will need to traverse the roadway, and when you put them to travel through the alternative roadway which is not a Government road - it is actually a private estate road through the sugarcane (fields) - it is a dangerous alternative route,” she said on Friday.
Jess is also concerned that transport operators may use the situation to demand an increase in fares.
“When fares increase, people are already feeling the economic burden, and so, things are only going to get more and more expensive because it's going to be passed on.
"The farmers will have to pass it on to us, as the taxi drivers may have to pass it on to the passengers.
"We're really appealing to the relevant authority, to the minister of works, because this is a situation that had been brought to the attention of the Government before. And so, we're appealing to them to reach out to the National Works Agency and have the requisite funding put in place so as to address what is a clear and present danger,” Jess said.
Meanwhile, the Labour and Security Ministry, in a release on Friday, said it has started the distribution of relief supplies to persons who were impacted during the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael. In the coming days, the ministry is to conduct assessments on those damaged during the storm.
The ministry said following extensive rainfall and flooding caused by Tropical Storm Rafael, several sections across the island were affected, and it has since been leading a coordinated disaster relief response to assist residents in impacted areas, with its parish teams deployed in such areas.
The statement said the teams have been distributing relief items in areas that were affected by severe flooding and landslide conditions across eight parishes.
The Affected communities in Kingston and St Andrew were Majestic Gardens, New Haven, Pondside, Bull Bay; Burger Gully, Gordon Town and Riverton City.
In St Catherine, the affected communities were Big Pond, Nightingale Grove, Bushy Park, 31 St Johns Road, Caymanas Bay, and Waterloo.
For Clarendon, the ministry said the affected areas there were Bog Hole, Rocky Point, Hayes, Palmer’s Cross, Race Course, Water Lane, Western Park, Harris Street, York Town, Portland Cottage, Salt River, Mitchell Town, Halse Hall, Bowens, Coffals, Alley, and Longwood.
In Manchester, Kingsland and Alligator Pond were the communities that were reportedly most impacted by Tropical Storm Rafael.
The ministry said only McNeil Land district in Little London, Westmoreland had significantly impacted by the weather system.
However, local reports suggested that other communities were also flooded in the parish.
Cock Street in St Mary, and Sturge Town, Free Hill, as well as Bamboo in St Ann, were the affected areas on the north east end of the island.
The ministry stated that it provided essential relief supplies to several parishes, for distribution to residents experiencing critical shortages after the storm. That included 2,260 food packages, 77 cases of drinking water, 195 hygiene kits, and 50 mattresses, which have so far been distributed.
Special attention is being placed on reaching some marooned residents of Mount Airy in St Andrew, in collaboration with the Jamaica Red Cross, the ministry said on Friday.
It assured that it will be working with its stakeholders to continue responding to residents living in affected communities island-wide.
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