PERSISTENT heavy rains from a very slow-moving tropical depression, southwest of Negril Point, yesterday dumped millions of gallons of water on the island, causing flooding in several parishes.

The flooding forced the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) to evacuate several families at Weise Road in Bull Bay, St Thomas, as angry water from the Chalky River washed out their homes.

The flood waters caused the eastern bank of the Chalky River to collapse, blocking Weise Road and cutting off access to all communities within the vicinity.

“Right now the police have gone to notify the residents and we will be sending JUTC (Jamaica Urban Transit Company) buses for them,” Craig Beresford, the ODPEM’s senior director for corporate services, told the Observer at about 5:20 yesterday afternoon.

The Weise Road flood victims, Beresford said, would be given shelter at the St Benedict’s School in St Andrew.

Residents along the southern banks of the Yallahs ford were cut off and those who attempted to cross on foot were turned back by strong currents.

“We don’t have any shops over here,” said Latoya Hughes, who wanted to purchase food in Yallahs yesterday.

Flood waters from the heavy rains also caused flooding at Eleven Miles, Bull Bay, and Taylor Lands, St Thomas. The Yallahs ford in the parish was also impassable, while the Dry River overflowed its bank, flooding the Serge Island Road.

Flooding and landslides were also reported in the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, St Mary, St James, Clarendon, St Elizabeth and Trelawny.

There were no further reports of flooding in Montego Bay, the St James capital, where rains Saturday caused the town’s two major drains to overflow their banks, flooding several businesses and homes.

The ODPEM’s director-general, Dr Barbara Carby, last night reminded citizens “not to relax our guard” as the rains would continue to cause flooding, but said so far her organisation did not need to open any additional shelters.

Meanwhile, Opposition spokesman on transport and works Pearnel Charles called on the government to undertake an immediate survey of road conditions once the rains stopped.

He attributed much of the current damage to roadways to a lack of drain maintenance as well as bushing and clearing of accumulated silt from bridge columns.

He also called for the establishment of a special team, comprising National Works Agency (NWA) and parish council works department crews, to carry out emergency work and for government to accelerate its programme of river training as well as to assist property owners to find safer means of diverting flood waters from their properties.

Yesterday, the National Meteorological Service said the rains would continue into today.

“Tropical Depression Number 24 is expected to drift away from Jamaica, however, due to its slow movement showers and thunderstorms will continue to affect the island, at least through National Heroes Day tomorrow (today),” the Met Service said in its 5:00 pm bulletin yesterday.

The system was moving at four kilometres (two miles) per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 55km/h (35mph).

“Extensive flooding and landslides are.likely over some areas. Winds over western parishes could also occasionally gust to near gale force as the system remains in the vicinity of the island,” said the Met Service.

Fishermen and other marine interests were advised to exercise caution as strong gusty winds and rough seas were expected over the waters to the south and west of the island.

The depression, which was last night about 145 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Negril Point, is expected to be upgraded today to Tropical Storm Wilma, the 21st named storm of the season, tying the record for the most storms in an Atlantic season, said the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, United States.

The only other time that more storms have formed since record keeping began 154 years ago was in 1933, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president and the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression.

Meanwhile, a tropical storm warning was in effect for the Cayman Islands yesterday and residents began preparing for the worst.

In the Cayman Islands, 51-year-old Susan Craig was ready.

“I still have all the supplies from the previous storms this season, basically a lot of peanut M&M’s, so I am ready just in case,” said Cayman resident Susan Craig, 51.

The chairman of the Cayman Islands’ National Hurricane Centre Donovan Ebanks said authorities had been monitoring the weather for several days.

“Because of where it is, and the fact that it is projected to become a tropical storm by tomorrow and possibly a hurricane in a couple of days, we’ve decided to go ahead and issue a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch,” he said.

Grand Cayman, like Jamaica, received a bad lashing from Hurricane Ivan last year September. Grenada also took a battering from the weather system.

Long-term forecasts showed that the storm would likely move in a general westward direction for the next three days, then turn to the north. Such a scenario would put the storm in the Gulf of Mexico by later this week, and forecasters said water temperature and other conditions were favourable for it to become a significant hurricane.

– Additional reporting by the Associated Press