Heavy rains put Kennedy Grove under water again

Residents of Kennedy Grove in Sandy Bay, Clarendon, were among thousands of Jamaicans who have been affected by flooding caused by heavy rains that battered the island last week.

This is not the first time the community is suffering from high waters brought by excess rain. This time, a pond in the community overflowed, and residents were basically marooned in the housing scheme, as the main road to enter and exit was impassable.

Resident Jamile Gibans told THE WEEKEND STAR that even though the water has since run off, urgent attention is needed.

"Nothing cannot drive on the main road. That's how bad the water is right now! I would not encourage my enemy to walk in that water, much less myself. We need parish council or somebody to come and look at what is going on in this place," Gibans said. If the rain continued into Monday afternoon, Gibans said houses would've also been flooded.

"We need some help in here. If little more rain did fall, the water would get high enough to come over into the scheme. If you want to leave the community, you have to go and find a next road ... but the main road to come in the scheme, nothing caa drive on it right now," she said. Another resident said he couldn't leave his yard on Monday morning.

"If I did step out of my yard space, I woulda step down in water and wash weh gone," the man said. "This is dangerous ... you know seh we in a problem if we get one day worth a rain."

He said that the road has been eroded so badly, flooding will get worse with continued rain.

"If a even fi get somebody fi come try and patch some a di road and smooth it off. How it stay now, it easy fi water gather. And if it so high Sunday night, me wouldn't wah fi see what would happen if that rise higher," he said.