MANDEVILLE, Manchester – For the people of St Elizabeth and Manchester’s southern fringe, it’s a case of from one extreme to the other.
Traumatised by severe drought just months ago, they are now being harried by water, water everywhere.
“We really need a little break from the rain now,” a pensive Sarah Allen of Grosmond, just outside Braes River in North-East St Elizabeth, told a Sunday Observer crew at the start of a day-long photo tour on Friday, three days after Tropical Storm Nicole pounded the island with
heavy showers, taking at least eight lives and damaging property, infrastructure and crops.
Her comment came as she watched the rushing Grosmond River – normally an insignificant tributary of the Black River – which has now overflowed its banks, rushing through homes, shops and farms.
Fifty metres away young Dwayne Ivey stood disconsolately in front of his house surrounded by waist-high water. He and his parents had moved out on Wednesday to stay with relatives and friends.
Many of his neighbours had also fled their homes. Some had returned since Thursday as flood waters abated. But Ivey feared that predictions of more heavy rain over the weekend could lead to still more problems. (Observer)
