WESTERN BUREAU — Some businesses and schools closed early in sections of western Jamaica yesterday as heavy rains and gusty winds associated with Tropical Storm Isidore lashed some parishes.

Westmoreland was reportedly the hardest hit.

The heavy showers that started from Tuesday night resulted in the disruption of electricity and telephone services, as well as flooding in several communities in the parish.

Areas that were flooded include:

* Russia;

* Hudson Street;

* Upper and Lower Dalling Street;

* Little London; and

* Grange Hill.

At least 50 persons who were flooded out of their homes are now in shelters at schools and churches in the parish.

Most schools in the parish remained closed yesterday and there were reports of fallen trees and electricity poles on the Withorn to Darliston main road, and large boulders in the vicinity of Scotts Cove and Smithfield.

In Trelawny, most morning classes were dismissed before 1:30 pm, while classes scheduled for the afternoon shift were cancelled.

There were also reports that the Lowe River Primary and Junior High School in the parish did not open for classes.

The inclement weather also affected the popular Bend Down market in Falmouth as there was a marked absence of buyers and sellers doing business in the usually crowded bazaar.

Falmouth’s financial institutions and other businesses were forced to scale down their operations, but there were no reports of flooding in the parish.

Like Trelawny, a number of schools and business places in St James were also closed earlier than usual, but damage was minimal in that parish.

However, the parish of Hanover experienced flooding and several land slippages in several communities.

The National Works Agency’s (NWA’s) western region community relations officer, Stephen Shaw, told the Observer late yesterday that there were reports of flooding in Lucea and sections of Haughton Courts and land slippages in Lances Bay.

He said that maintenance teams from the NWA have been dispatched to the affected communities and are carrying out work on the roads.

“The teams are out there working very hard to ensure that the public does not experience any delays for any long periods,” Shaw said.