DAZED residents mopped out muck-filled homes yesterday, taking advantage of a lull from pounding rains, while Prime Minister P J Patterson toured flood-ravaged areas for the first time.

Patterson and other top officials flew by helicopter to hard-hit Halse Hall, Hayes, Lionel Town and Osbourne Store in flood-ravaged Clarendon. The parish, along with Manchester and St Catherine, apparently suffered the brunt of seven days of pounding and sporadic seasonal rains.

Patterson, forced to cut short his trip because of poor weather, later issued a statement pledging help for flood victims. Noting that flooding had caused “extensive losses and damage to crops, livestock, and communities”, the prime minister said assistance would include roofing and building materials for damaged homes, and planting materials for farmers.

The amount of help will be determined, he said, by appropriate government agencies.

As long as the rain continues, Patterson said, the government’s focus will remain on clearing blocked drains and roads, and on providing flood victims with shelter, bedding, and blankets.

At least seven people have died from the rains.

In the meanwhile, the met office yesterday extended its flash-flood watch for low-lying and flood-prone areas until 5:00 am today. However, forecasters said the low-pressure system over the central Caribbean, which has caused the rains, has weakened somewhat — resulting in less rain yesterday, they said.

However, the met office said there was the possibility of moderate showers until 5:00 pm today, and that isolated showers could persist until Saturday.

In flood-ravaged Manchester, rain fell “on and off” yesterday, according to disaster relief co-ordinator Hilary Bromfield.

She said the parish has been distributing relief supplies — including blankets, mattresses, food packages, and clothing — since last Thursday.

“People have been washed out of their homes, some of which remain under water,” Bromfield said. Some roads remain impassable, she added.

She said flood waters persist in the district of Harmons, in the town of Porus and surrounding areas, and in Alligator Pond, Rasberry, Watermouth, Berrydale, Trinity, Broadleaf, and Wickwar.

Manchester has only opened one shelter, located in Broadleaf, where eight people remained yesterday, Bromfield said.

“Most people in Manchester who were flooded out went to stay with friends or relatives,” she said.

In St Elizabeth yesterday, emergency workers were accessing damage to roads and structures, caused by heavy rains that were “the worse I’ve ever seen…in May,” said parish disaster co-ordinator Yvonne Morrison. Washed-out roads kept Coffee Valley isolated, she said.

On Sunday and Monday, she said, heavy rains flooded out 12 families in Black River and washed out some asphalt-covered roads throughout the parish. By late Monday, she said, the waters had started to recede “and yesterday the sun shone brightly. But the sunshine was bittersweet for flood victims.”

“The flood waters destroyed practically everything in their homes,” said Morrision. The victims were given relief supplies, she said, including mattresses and bedding. They cleaned out their houses, and then returned to them to live, preferring not to stay in shelters, she said.

Officials were assessing the extent of the damage. Among other things, she said, “people are complaining of chickens and goats drowning, but I don’t know how much yet”.

The sun shone in some areas, helping to restore a sense of normality.

In Kingston, Jamaica Urban Transit Company buses were again operating in full force yesterday. A day earlier, bus operations were “drastically reduced” due to decreased passenger demand, and by rains and flooding that made driving unsafe on some streets, including Marcus Garvey Drive, according to Errol Lee, a spokesperson for the bus company.

According to disaster co-ordinator Issa Nugent, yesterday, heavy rains Sunday night and yesterday in the Kingston/St Andrew areas flooded out “some people, but there was no need for them to go into a shelter because the rain held up”. No shelters were opened in the area, he said.

Although the city suffered a “lot of landslides,” Nugent said, the National Works Agency cleared up the debris and kept drains open. “Otherwise, we would have had so many more problems.”

Throughout the island, though, hundreds of flood victims have sought shelter for various periods of time. On Monday, Clarendon alone sheltered 234 people who had sought refuge from flooded homes and more than 500 people, according to the ODPEM, were in shelters up to Monday night.