MANDEVILLE, Manchester – Disaster co-ordinators in St Elizabeth and Manchester say they are satisfied that emergency services and agencies are ready for the after-effects should the two south coast parishes be hit hard by Hurricane Dean.

“The various agencies have said they are prepared and the emergency shelters are in place and ready,” said the co-ordinator for St Elizabeth Yvonne Morrison.

In Manchester, Disaster Co-ordinator Claudia Coley expressed similar sentiments.

“In the event that something does happen, I think we are prepared,” said Coley.

Much attention is being paid to emergency shelters in both parishes. In St Elizabeth there are 102 registered shelters, mostly schools and two churches – the Bull Savannah Seventh-day Adventist and the Baptist Church in Hodges Land.

Yesterday, Morrison identified several low-lying areas, including New River, Big Woods and Treasure Beach, as areas of greatest concern in terms of flooding in St Elizabeth. She appealed to residents of known flood-prone areas to obey evacuation orders. “They must not wait until water reach waist high before getting out,” she said.

In Treasure Beach, a canal that was started more than a year ago to take excess water to the sea during flood situations remained incomplete. Dozens of families had to vacate their homes because of rising waters in the Great Bay area of Treasure Beach in 2005.

Coley said that in Manchester there were 105 registered shelters – schools, community centres and a number of Seventh-day Adventist churches.

She identified Harmons, Alligator Pond, Porus and a few communities in the capital Mandeville as the areas in greatest danger of flooding while land slippages posed a real threat in a number of highland communities, including Christiana.