http://www.odpem.org.jm/Portals/0/Port%20Maria.

pdf
http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/jobs/v.php?id=32387
http://petchary.wordpress.com/2014/01/page/2/

November 12, 2012

the stationary front currently affecting the island has produced heavy rains resulting in flooding within the parish of St. Mary. The areas
affected include:

-Port Maria

-Oracabessa

-Sections of Junction in the vicinity of Georgia

On November 11, 2012, 18 days after Category One Hurricane Sandy hit
Jamaica, Port Maria experienced an overwhelming flash flood, which
caused the town's main river, Otram, to swell and burst its banks.
The combination of these two freak weather conditions devastated the
communities working and living in and around the town. Sadly, very little
has changed 12 months later.
Several well-established businesses have been forced to shut down and
many families were placed into expensive temporary accommodation,
which exhausted a sizeable portion of the parish council's finances.

According to Rev-erend Father Charles Manderson, of the local Anglican

Church, the citizens of Port Maria are still in shock and are yet to begin
rebuilding their town and lives.
He told Rural Xpess, "Sandy and the floods devastated the area and the
people suffered tremendously. As they were on the verge of getting back
to normal, there was a second flood two to three weeks after the
hurricane, which was worse than the first.
"No cars could enter nor exit the town so drivers had to wait for hours
until the water subsided; and the river water deposited a lot of mud in
people's houses.
"There are still some psychological effects being felt by the people of
Port Maria. Right now, if it rains for a prolonged period of time, they
experience anxiety and start to leave. They panic because they
anticipate the possibility of another flood."
Meca Plunkett, manager of the local Courts store agrees. "There has
been a psychological effect because a year later, whenever it rains,
everybody starts looking outside and getting sad. It rained last weekend
and we all started feeling depressed because we weren't sure if it was
going to happen again.
"The storms and flood had a tremendous effect on the people and area;
we are only just starting to see some customers returning from that time.
Some of them migrated, not necessarily from Courts, but to branches in
other areas."
Port Maria, which was the second Jamaican town built by Spanish
colonisers, comprises two rivers and has become increasingly prone to
flooding in recent years.
Father Manderson explained: "[Flooding] was a problem for many years,
but there was some development of the road network and I don't think it
was done with adequate communication with the people living in the
community.

"In terms of how they organised the drainage, it appears that a lot of the
water from the surface of the road is channelled into the [Otram], but the
river course has not been adjusted to accommodate maybe two or three
times the volume of water it previously held."
Drainage issue
Father Manderson believes that unless the drainage issue is resolved
and the residents living in and around the infamous Pagee Beach area
are rehoused, it is just a matter of time before floods plunge the town
into chaos again.
"The housing situation has gotten a bit out of control. There are certain
low-lying and flood-prone areas where there should be no houses.
People living in these areas need to be rehoused because whenever
there is a flood, a lot of the parish's scarce resources are being used to
place them into temporary accommodation, and that is something that
needs to be addressed," he said.
Alaric 'Bobby' Pottinger, St Mary custos emeritus and chairman of the St
Mary Development and Restoration Fund, agrees and plans to relocate
the vulnerable residents of Pagee Beach by utilising 94 acres of land
recently donated to the parish by the Mannings Trust.
"The number-one issue the St Mary Development and Restoration Fund
is dealing with is Pagee Beach and the relocation of the people living
there who are affected by the continuous flooding. We want to
rehabilitate the area by bringing in the private sector and offering them
tax reliefs for the contributions they make. We have the support of the
Government, the prime minster and the governor general, but something
concrete needs to be done about the situation now," said Pottinger.
Floods and landslides are the most frequently occurring ones in part due to factors
relating to topography, geology, and meteorological exposure. (Source: Brief on
IBRD Mossaic Project)

Between 2002 2007, Jamaica experienced six storm events (incl. 3 major
hurricanes) and several flood events. These combined events resulted in damage
and losses amounting to approx. J$70.7 billion or 3.2% of GDP.

HAZARD

VULNERABLE ASSETS

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS

Destruction of property Loss of lives.

Enforce building codes.

-Keep keys and important documents in safe

and easily accessible areas.

: Community Mitigation Action