POINT, Hanover — As residents of Hanover tried to recover from Hurricane Melissa, the parish was pounded Tuesday by a four-hour thunderstorm that rubbed salt into two-week-old wounds left by the catastrophe.

Between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, the storm left behind widespread damage in the eastern end of the parish. The National Works Agency (NWA) was busy Wednesday trying to clear blocked drains, gullies, bridges and roads.

Among the areas impacted are Bamboo in Hopewell; Sandy Bay, Kew Main Road, Point and Tryall.

“There are some land slips that have been reported along the Kew Main Road but in terms of major damage, it would have been the Sandy Bay Main Road that would have been blocked. We have now managed to clear,” said NWA Community Relations Officer, Western Region, Janel Ricketts.

She said gullies in the neighbouring parish of St James were also impacted by the heavy showers but the NWA is also addressing those issues.

There was also help from residents of Oceanpointe Housing Scheme. They took the initiative to use a privately owned backhoe to help with cleaning a nearby gully and the removal of three cars that were washed away from the scheme by the flood waters around 2:00 am.

While the Jamaica Observer was not allowed inside the gated community, resident Jason Rowe maintained that days before the hurricane, unsuccessful efforts were made to have the NWA clean the culvert that leads across the main road.

Rowe is of the view that what took place on Wednesday morning could have been avoided if the NWA had acted.

“We had reached out to them the Wednesday before the hurricane and asked them to help with some drain cleaning because we were worried that it might impact the community and they said that they only have funds to do clean up after,” he told the Observer.

Ricketts said the NWA will investigate the matter.

A backhoe clearing a gully on the Sandy Bay main road.

A backhoe and truck are clearing debris from the Tryall main road.