A Westmoreland woman and her six-year-old son narrowly escaped injury yesterday morning when winds from Hurricane Charley threw down a cotton tree on her small board house at Hide Away Lane, a small district in Red Ground, Negril.

The 24 year-old woman, Rasheon Patman, told the Observer that she was in the house with her child when she heard a crackling sound. She then realised that the cotton tree in the yard had crashed on the house during the heavy rains and winds.

She said that she lost several pieces of appliances and furniture as a result of the incident. “I don’t know what I am going to do now because everything mash up,” Patman said yesterday.

She said she would be staying with a friend, but said it was only a temporary arrangement.

Councillor Bertel Moore of the Negril Division yesterday promised to offer some assistance to Patman. However, he did not say what level of assistance would be offered.

Moore, who was on a tour of his Negril Division, said damage from the hurricane was, however, minimal. “We only have a few trees blown down and minor flooding,” he said.

But in Savanna-la-Mar, the Westmoreland capital, there were numerous reports of flooding as a result of heavy rains associated with Hurricane Charley. Among the areas affected were Segree

Street, Shaolin, Chantilly Gardens and several sections of Dalling Street.

Flooding in a number of the areas was caused by choked drains – by garbage and weed.

Residents yesterday urged the authorities to clean the drains.