JOHN’S HALL, St James – At least six families in John’s Hall are facing home repair and cleaning bills that could run into thousands of dollars following Monday’s heavy rains, which caused several landslides across the community.

One elderly woman, Lucille Haughton, 72, was left homeless after a mudslide swept away the foundation of her house.

“The landslide with the house. The house is not smashed to pieces but it is not on any foundation. She can’t stay in the house at all,” said parish coordinator for disaster preparedness Olga Faye Headley.

A breadfruit tree also fell on to the house of Haughton’s neighbours, Frank and Samuel Allen.

Another tree fell on Patricia Whittaker’s house, which she shares with her four children, while piles of muddy debris tumbled on to the premises of Marlene Reid and Leroy Campbell.

Whittaker’s roof now holds several dents and with the hole left by the fallen tree, future rains will have ready access to her belongings stored indoors.

“The ceiling broke down last night. The bed wet, everything wet,” she said yesterday.

Reid, in the interim, lost construction material that was stored on her property while Campbell suffered the loss of some banana trees, cane and a fowl coup.

A section of a wall he was building was also damaged.

“I did banana and cane and all of them gone down there,” Campbell told the Observer, pointing to a section of land that had slipped away.

He noted that he had been unable to sleep since the rains pelted the parish the day before, since he had to keep an eye out for slides.

“Right now I haven’t slept yet because I have had to be watching my house and another house,” said the Damn Road resident of three years.

The landslides, which numbered about seven, also caused the loss of electricity and the worsening of road conditions in sections of the community.

The Jamaica Public Service Company and the National Works Agency (NWA) were present in the community from as early as Monday night until late yesterday afternoon, seeking to restore electricity and clear the roadways, respectively.

Motorists were forced to utilise alternate routes in and out of the area while the NWA worked on clearing away sludge and fallen trees.

The NWA’s community relations officer for western Jamaica, Stephen Shaw, said the intention was to have all the roads cleared by the week’s end. After that, he said, the works agency will begin an assessment of the damage caused to roads in the area.

“All the areas that had slips, we suspect, had damage… Once we have cleared the slippage then we can go in and do a thorough assessment,” Shaw said.

Member of Parliament Ed Bartlett has said he would seek to ensure that those affected by the land slippage were given at least some of the funds needed to help them recover.

“I have already earmarked support for all of them. Not full support, of course, but I have earmarked support for Patricia Whittaker, Marlene Reid and Mr Campbell,” said Bartlett.

“The 72 year-old, we are going to see what we can do for her,” he said. “Within a short while they should be back on track.”

Headley too has promised assistance for those affected by the landslides.

“I am going to talk to our welfare person to see what they can do for them,” she said.

She added that the section of the labour ministry that deals with senior citizens would see to Haughton’s needs.

“The Ministry of Labour will send out officers to see what they can do to assist the others,” she said.

williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com