As Jamaicans made last-minute preparations on Tuesday to prepare for the passage of the potentially devastating Hurricane Beryl, Robert was spotted playing a small role in cleaning up Sandy Gully in St. Andrew. His actions removing wood and other debris seemed futile compared to the massive amounts of trash that had piled up in the waterway.
Robert, who lives in Drewsland, is one of many Jamaicans who live close to the ravine banks and in flood-prone areas and could be at risk during the storm, which is forecast to make landfall before dawn on Wednesday morning.
But on the eve of the hurricane, Robert is more concerned about possible flooding in the Drewsland area than he is about flooding in nearby Seaview Gardens, which sits on the edge of Sandy Gully, a region often clogged by rubbish washdown.
“I try to help clean it because I know the blockages are a problem. They flow into the ocean and sink to the bottom, so they get clogged,” the 60-year-old explained.
In addition to strong winds, Beryl is expected to bring heavy rain to Jamaica, with rain from the outer band of the storm expected to begin affecting the island in the early hours of Wednesday morning, beginning in parts of the eastern and north-central parishes.
Against this backdrop, Seaview residents are preparing for the worst, with rubbish piling up in Sandy Gully at the moment.
“Every time it rains here we get floods, even with normal rains. (During a hurricane) people have to expect water to come to their doorstep,” Jabir, who lives in Seaview Gardens Phase 2, told Observer Online.
The 29-year-old suggested that strategic installation of water reservoirs and regular cleaning of Sandy Gullies would reduce the problem of flooding.
“The ditches are not cleaned often and water is clogged where it should be drained. Ditches from other communities that lead to Seaview are also to blame. But if we install nets to intercept rubbish and get the rubbish collectors to clean it, the situation will improve,” he said.
A female resident who gave her name only as Sharon said the problem occurs in all communities through which the main canal passes.
“When it rains, you can see bottles falling from far up, from the Constant Spring side, for example. This is the main ditch so everything falls from Constant Spring and Drewsland, so all kinds of bottles, old fridges, trash, dead dogs, everything falls into the ditch,” Sharon explained, pointing to piles of trash on the ditch’s banks.
She added that the area where she lives in Seaview Gardens doesn’t usually suffer from flooding, but it has gutters that need cleaning and she’s not sure if it will escape damage in Hurricane Beryl’s passage.
“I’ve never seen the water overflow when Ivan came, and when Gilbert came he said it wouldn’t overflow. I don’t know if it will overflow this time, but this ditch will really be cleaned, so I’ll just have to trust in God,” Sharon said.
Meanwhile, the National Works Administration (NWA) continued its cleanup efforts at Sandy Gully on Tuesday. NWA public affairs director Stephen Shaw said the cleanup work began on Sunday and the agency is trying to at least create a channel for the water from Hurricane Beryl to flow through.
“We’re in the process of putting in some sort of channel that will at least allow the storm water to flow smoothly, and we’ll keep working on that until we can’t and hopefully in the process, they’ll be safe because of what we’ve done,” Shaw said.
