Flooding
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 29/Sep/2010 14:22, 34 days ago
Well, the heavy rain, named Tropical Depression #16, continued through the night bringing thunder storms so close I thought the simultaneous flash and crash was right inside our bedroom. The bang in turn set off all the car alarms in the parking lot. I jumped up out of bed, grabbing George to wake him up because I could see red flashes through the curtains. I thought something was on fire in the parking lot but fortunately it was just special red headlights that are activated when the car alarms are set off; it wasn't a fire after all.That should have been a relief, but the rain didn't let up all night. Shortly afterwards we started hearing the sound of rushing water and waterfalls so George checked outside to find our path in front of our front door filled with muddy water, running like a creek in springtime. The water was rushing down the bank from the parking lot into what I always thought was a planter but now I realize it is a flood retaining wall exactly like the one we built in our basement for the same reason.The water rushed over the flood barrier, fortunately right past our door and ended up in the space between our building and another in our compound. The only thing is, the water level was higher than their flood curb and being just slightly downhill, three apartments on the lower level all got flooded. We could see in the middle of the night that their doors were below the high water mark. In the morning, we discovered the worst hit was actually the apartment right next door to us, our mirror image. It happens to be on the upside of the hill and all the water just poured right in through the kitchen and dining room windows which are only a foot off the ground but remember there is no glass to keep the water out, just wooden slats that overlap slightly, calling themselves hurricane shutters, offering no protection from flooding.The sad part about the apartment next door is that it has actually been empty for about 4 or 5 months and the last 3 or 4 months have been spent renovating it. Only yesterday afternoon did the man make the final cleanup ready for the girl in apartment 10 to move over. Her apartment was one of the other three flooded, but this one was so much worse - she's decided not to move.The all day heavy rain is forecast to continue on today as well. It comes in spurts and as I type I am watching the water levels start to rise again. The ground is so waterlogged. But it's not just here in our complex, it's everywhere. As soon as George arrived at work he checked his computer before being sent home. It sounded pretty dangerous. He slipped in the dark corridor because the power was off but caught himself as he missed the last step in the darkness on route to ensure his computer was safe and dry. his office floor was covered in half an inch of water. There are two bridges washed out, McGregor Gully is over flowing (an area frequently hit hard by flooding), a house just around the corner from us at the Burger King on Barbican Road (again near a gully) was washed away and of course the mountain roads have collapsed in sections with rock and mud slides leaving residents unable to get in or out. But worst of all, people in the mountains have lost their lives.The Office for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management in now open including all the emergency shelters and all schools remain closed again today as Tropical Depression #16 promises to subside this evening.