JOHN’S HALL, St James — John’s Hall resident Kathrola had to grab her two children and flee from her shop Saturday to escape dangerous flood waters that almost trapped her during a heavy downpour.

“It was terrible and I was really afraid. It was God why we build the little retaining wall at the back because if we didn’t build it, all the shop gone,” she said Sunday.

“There was water at the side, water in front, water at back; it wasn’t anything good. And then [seeing the danger], I put the babies on the counter,” she related.

She said the situation was not expected, and when she saw the usually stream-like flow of water rise above the gully and began using the road as a new water channel, she began to fear the worse.

“I took up my bag with my papers, my child’s tablet, and put the children them on my shoulder [and quickly got out]. I had said if anything, I would open the window and let the water run through [but there was no time for that],” she said.

“It was really terrible,” she reiterated.

Across the road, fellow shop operator Joseph Vaughns said while the water was threatening him and his livelihood, he was more concerned about the situation facing Kathrola and her children.

“I wasn’t really fretting because I know it couldn’t really trouble me, but over by the next shop two little children were inside and I was wondering to myself, ‘I don’t know how them going to manage because the water up at a high mark and the people them in the shop,’ “ he remarked.

“I was even thinking if they probably needed a helicopter to get out,” he said, but by that time the mother braved the flood waters as she took her children to safe ground.

Vaughns, who has has been living in the community for more than 40 years, said this is the second time he has seen flood waters behave in such a manner.

Another resident, Warren Brooks, unfortunately had his motor car washed away by the flood waters, even though he had taken precautions against such an occurrence.

“I moved it, and about five minutes after I saw water rising much higher; then I see my car swimming down the road and I can’t do a thing,” he lamented.

He said he had never encountered such a situation in the community, and having moved his car he thought that would have been enough to prevent what he had feared.

“It come up already in the road but I never witnessed it so high. That’s why I moved the car from where it was, because I know that the water comes up there and so I moved it down a little bit more where no water usually is,” Brooks said.

He told the
Jamaica Observer that at least two other cars were washed away during the flooding but is hopeful his car will be able to work after a mechanic checks on it.

During the course of the flooding several areas of the road between John’s Hall and adjoining communities were left impassable because of landslides.

Member of Parliament for St James East Central Edmund Bartlett labelled the situation a disaster given what transpired during the unusual weather event on Saturday which damaged several community roads.

“The whole area can be described as a disaster zone,” Bartlett said as he expressed concern about the impact on the livelihood of farmers in the area as well as the effect on children when schools reopen today for the new school year.

Bartlett, who visited the area on Saturday, said based on what he saw he had started dialogue in getting the situation addressed.

“Those areas are in need of immediate attention, and I have already spoken to the minister of works in regards to that and I am very confident that responses will be immediate and that alleviation, for sure, will be had for the areas that are affected,” he remarked.

During the night on Saturday and into the early morning on Sunday, heavy equipment from National Works Agency (NWA) was deployed to clear the roadway.

A second team from NWA was also deployed on Sunday to carry out clean-up activities in the community.

Bartlett lauded the agency for the effort in making a number of roadways passable for residents seeking to reach various destinations.

“I must thank them for coming to clear some of the roadways last night [Saturday] so that there could be through passage for hundreds of commuters who were coming in from Montego Bay, heading to their homes in that area and also heading as far as areas of St Elizabeth,” said Bartlett.