A woman who sells fruits along the Bog Walk Gorge wades through flood waters near the Flat Bridge which was covered by water yesterday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

JAMAICA Defence Force (JDF) helicopters yesterday plucked 19 persons to safety from the Bog Walk Gorge during heavy rains that caused landslips and the raging Rio Cobre to spew its banks.

The angry waters washed away at least four cars and others were inundated.

With the waters in the gorge rising, the evacuees, unable to retreat or go forward, found refuge atop a trailer, from where they made calls to emergency services, Christopher Gayle, an official at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) explained last night.

"The trailer was the highest vehicle in the gorge," Gayle said. "Everybody went on top of it. The helicopters made three trips."

"The JDF is conducting aerial reconnaissance along the entire length of the gorge to ensure that rescue operations are carried out for all persons who are stranded," the ODPEM said in a statement yesterday.

Yesterday's rain, which hammered most of the island, was the result of a cold front that has hovered over the island for several days, causing intermittent showers and thunderstorms.

The condition was expected to continue into early today and with the ground already saturated from days of rain, the Meteorological Office yesterday afternoon issued a flash flood warning.

Flooding has occurred, leading to the flash flood warning.
"Although that condition is dissipating there is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere, especially around northern parishes and this has led to much of the rainfall in parishes such as Portland, St Ann, St Mary and St Thomas," the Meteorological Office's senior forecaster Lawrence Brown told the Observer.

In the face of flooding and landslides, the National Works Agency (NWA) closed several roads and suggested alternative routes, limited traffic on others and generally urged motorists to proceed with caution and observe posted warnings.

Most of the problems were in hilly and mountainous regions, as well as plain areas notorious for landslides and floods, or both.

Despite the warnings, several persons seemed intent on defying the elements, especially in the Bog Walk Gorge where some motorists appeared ready to attempt crossing the dangerous Flat Bridge that spans the Rio Cobre.

The bridge was mostly covered by angry, murky waters and it took firm efforts from stern-faced cops from the St Catherine North Traffic Division to bar vehicles and pedestrians from going ahead.

Many motorists had obviously ignored caution cones and detour signs posted about two kilometres from the bridge.
In the afternoon, at least four adults - two men and two women - were spotted wading through the silt and mud of the flood waters to residences overlooking the bridge.

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