PORTLAND, Jamaica — Several roads were blocked and there was significant roof damage for some residents in sections of Portland following Hurricane Melissa, but People’s National Party (PNP) Councillor Caretaker of the Fellowship Division, Colin Bell, said the parish appears to have been spared the worst of the storm.

Speaking with Observer Online on Wednesday, Bell provided a first-hand account of the damage across the division.

“We’re just coming from the Berrydale Road where there’s also a roadblock down there that needs some power saw. We have reports that Bellevue is in a bad condition. Lots of houses lost their roofs. The road is also blocked up there,” Bell shared.

“So, as our civic duty, we’re basically just running through the constituency to have a first-hand look at what happened. And we can see that we get some damage, but I think we’ve been spared the worst of it. And we give God thanks for the spear that he has speared us up here,” he continued.

Bell extended his sympathies to the hardest-hit parishes in western Jamaica, stating his team plans to join their recovery efforts soon.

— Everard Owen