KINGSTON, Jamaica – Mayor of Kingston, Delroy Williams, says no major damage have been done in the municipality as a result of the passage of Hurricane Ian.

The outer bands of Ian passed over Jamaica over the weekend and earlier this week causing major damages to some sections of the island. As a result, parishes such as Kingston & St Andrew were placed under flash flooding warning.

READ: Flash-flood warning in effect for northeastern and southern parishes

Williams stated, however, that during check-ups after the rains subsided, he found that there were no major damage done to the municipality.

He also noted that sections of Kingston & St Andrew, which are usually considered flood-prone areas, such as sections of Bull Bay, encountered no such occurrences from the rains caused by Ian.

“Well it is the Chalky River, adjacent to Weise Road and the Windsor Lodge community. We are just looking to ensure that the river is clear and that it is allowing for the smooth flow of storm water. As you can see, we have had heavy rains over the last few days and the section here, which is under the bridge at Nine Milles, is pretty clear,” he said.

“As you know, just about a year ago, we had problems where most of the section under the bridge was blocked causing flooding along Weise Road, and it’s an area we have been looking at.”

“There were checks at the Duhaney River, in particular New Haven along Riverside Drive. The river did not overflow its banks there, and, so, there are small areas of water sections of New Haven. But generally, so far so good with respect to the rains caused by Hurricane Ian”.

He added that the roadways in the downtown business district were inundated due to heavy rains. But the storm water quickly receded after the rainfall subsided.

Williams said that no major flooding was reported in the municipality.

He said that there were minor landslides in West Rural and East Rural St Andrew, but not at the magnitude that would cause major damages to people, livestock and buildings.

“There were minor landslides in areas such as Clark’s Hill and roads leading off the Mount James main road, so minor landslides,” he said.

“Also in east rural areas, there were minor landslides in Bito and other sections. But, generally, we have no major reports of landslides in areas where they normally occur, which is primarily West rural and East rural St Andrew,” he added.

He said that the engineering department for the municipality of Kingston is expected to assess the damage throughout the rest of the week and outline the approaches needed to be taken to address the issues, in keeping with the availability of funds and resources.

Williams also stated that shelters were prepared prior to the hurricane, however, no one turned up to use the shelters due to the minor damages. Shelters will still be in a state of readiness in the case of any emergency, he said.