NEWS that more than 50 people who were trapped by flood waters had to be rescued by the Jamaica Defence Force in the perilous Bog Walk Gorge was apparently not enough to keep motorists away yesterday, despite a closure notice.

Yesterday, several motorists – both private and public passenger vehicles – were seen inching their way through the heavy deposits of sand and manoeuvring around rocks and other debris that had blocked the road by the raging waters of the Rio Cobre Thursday.

A team of highway patrol cops on the scene allowed the motorists to use the Flat Bridge and travel through the gorge, saying they could not prevent them since no physical barrier had been erected.

“The bridge wasn’t closed,” one of the officers said. “It was only impassable because of the high level of the water. It’s not so high now so the motorists are crossing but they are doing so at their own risk,” the officer added.

About half an hour later, however, two other teams of policemen blocked both entrances to the gorge with their service vehicles, forcing drivers to use the alternative routes – Barry and Sligoville.

“The people were told not to come out and use it (the gorge) so we are just enforcing that,” said Corporal Foster of the Spanish Town police.

At the same time, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), yesterday again appealed to motorists to stay away from the gorge and to use Barry and Sligoville instead.

Other than motorists seeking to get to and from Spanish Town via the Bog Walk Gorge, residents of the surrounding areas were yesterday out in their numbers scraping the sand into mounds onto the side of the street and directing motorists, but not without requests for payment.

“Wi deh yah ah clean off di sand off di road because wi want the traffic fi flow,” said a shovel-toting man who declined to give his name. He said he and many of the other men were on the scene Thursday helping some of the trapped motorists to safety.

The gorge itself, where a large group of people were trapped from mid-afternoon on Thursday until early yesterday morning in some cases, told the tale of Thursday’s frightened victims.

The scene was created by fallen rocks and felled tree trunks scattered in the muddy slushy street, battered reeds and road surfaces that were washed away by the dirty, brown waters of the Rio Cobre that raged several inches higher than its normal levels. As it rushed by in the channel, the violent waters lapped at the retaining walls – many parts of which had already been knocked out – spilling over and settling in a sunken section of the road close to the famous ‘Pim Rock’.

In that vicinity, too, was evidence of the ‘fight’ the trapped victims put up to stay out of the water’s sweeping arms – an elevated area of trodden shrubs strewn with articles of clothing and umbrellas.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) confirmed that soldiers rescued a total of 54 people Thursday night, but had to call off the search as a result of poor visibility caused by thick fog. Other victims, they said, were either helped by private citizens or made it out on their own.

Yesterday, residents in Old Harbour Bay, Job’s Lane and Central Village in St Catherine were affected by rising waters from the heavy rains.

Flooding was also reported in the parishes of St Andrew, St Thomas, Clarendon and Hanover.

In St Thomas, the Yallahs and Negro rivers overflowed their banks, rendering nearby roads such as the stretch from Llandewey to Cambridge and that leading to Hagley Gap, Mavis Bank and Guava Ridge impassable. The ford at Mahoganyvale was also impassable yesterday.

In Clarendon, residents of Hot Water Lane and Capture Land in Rocky Point were forced to seek shelter at the Weslyan Holiness Church, while landslides were reported in Hanover.

Meanwhile, the National Water Commission reported yesterday that muddy inflows, dislocated pipelines, electrical failures and flooding at treatment plants have caused partial disruptions to its supply system in all parishes.