PORT MARIA, ST MARY — Councillor for the Carron Hall Division in St Mary, the Jamaica Labour Party’s Doreen Hutchinson, has raised alarm over conditions facing the residents as they brace for possible adverse weather related to the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.

According to Hutchinson, her mainly farming division remains exposed months after being impacted by Hurricane Melissa last October, with residents still living under damaged roofs, and faced with empty water tanks.

“This division was badly affected [by Melissa],” Hutchinson told the Jamaica Observer.

She said that on a scale of one to 10 — with 10 being the worst — she would put the impact of the damage from the Category 5 storm at eight.

Carron Hall, which is a major supplier of ground provisions for the parish, saw about 80 per cent of its homes and farms damaged when Melissa struck the island.

“Many residents have still not recovered from Hurricane [Melissa’s] onslaught and now we are back into a hurricane season,” said Hutchinson who charged that repair funding for the residents has been minimal.

“Just a few people, maybe four or so, have received assistance so most families are still waiting,” added Hutchinson.

She pointed out that the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has restored electricity to the community but many people remain without water in their taps and trucked water from the St Mary Municipal Corporation has been scarce.

“It has been a while now since the corporation has received funds to truck water,” Hutchinson charged.

She told the Observer that she has taken the initiative to place 15 water tanks in the community, but they are in need of being filled to ease the daily struggle.

“My plea lies in getting water to the residents. I would love for the tanks to be filled so it can ease residents,” she said.

Road conditions are also of concern to Hutchinson who charged that money received for roadwork is woefully inadequate.

“I would fix one section of the road and then the other section is damaged,” Hutchinson explained.

She further charged that most of the emergency shelters in the division were damaged by Melissa, leaving few options as hurricane preparations continue.

“Right now we are looking at other alternatives for shelters as most of what were shelters in the division were badly damaged,” said Hutchinson as she called for more focus to be placed on Carron Hall as it is a community that feeds the parish.

— Ingrid Henry