McNeil Land residents flooded out, water still rising
Published:Friday | November 8, 2024 | 12:07 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
As it was in 2018, when they were trapped in their homes by floodwaters caused by torrential rains, the residents of McNeil Land, Westmoreland, found themselves stuck again yesterday in the aftermath of the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael.
McNeil Land, located in the flat plains of Westmoreland, is considered an area prone to flooding when it rains heavily as the drains in the community, especially when not cleaned, are usually quickly overwhelmed.
However, according to Ashley Byrd, a resident of the community, yesterday’s situation was as bad as she has ever seen it as the water rose to a level that left several houses flooded out.
“Due to the rising floodwaters, we the residents of McNeil Land are not able to go out today because of the height of the water,” Byrd said. “We have persons who got assisted this morning by some truck drivers who helped us to get out the residents whose houses were already flooded early this morning.”
NOT DOING A GOOD JOB
According to Byrd, Morland Wilson, member of parliament (MP) for Westmoreland Western; Little London Councillor Ian Myles; personnel from the Westmoreland branch of the Jamaica Fire Brigade; and representatives from the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation’s disaster preparedness committee have been in the community assessing the situation.
“They said they were going to do some work to get the drains clean to release some of the water, but the place was already flooded out,” continued Byrd. “I believe this situation was caused because the drains were not cleaned for months.”
According to some of the residents, the political representatives have not been doing a good job as they have not been seeing them in the area. They were particularly peeved that knowing the situation in their community when it rains heavily, the authorities should have made some effort to clean the drains.
When The Gleaner spoke to Wilson, who is a first-term MP, he said he had toured the community earlier in the morning and described what he saw as “total devastation”.
“I took a tour of the area with the councillors and personnel from the municipal corporation, the Ministry of Labour [and Social Security], whose officers have been out from early morning delivering [care] packages,” said Wilson.
Though the rain had stopped, Wilson used the opportunity of his visit to urge residents to remain cautious and vigilant because water was still rising in some areas.
“We would have seen water running and flowing ... . In several areas, we are seeing, like, basically, flash flood, so I am asking persons in low-lying areas to take precautionary measures and look out for other community members.”