More than 900 persons still in shelters

A total of 90 emergency shelters remain activated across seven parishes to safeguard displaced residents, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

These are situated in Trelawny, Manchester, St Elizabeth, Hanover, Westmoreland, St James and St Ann and currently house 942 individuals. This was disclosed by Director of Hazard Mitigation and Risk Management in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Phillipa Ricketts-Edmund, during a briefing by the National Emergency and Operations Centre at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management in Kingston.

She reported that 736 individuals are being accommodated in schools, 81 in community centres, and 104 in churches. Ricketts-Edmund further indicated that of the 90 shelters - comprising 59 schools, 16 community centres, and 15 churches - Westmoreland accounts for the largest number of displaced residents, with 479 occupying 30 facilities.

"St Elizabeth has the second highest shelter population with 167 persons, and they also have the widest distribution across schools, community centres and churches," Ricketts-Edmund added.

For Trelawny, she indicated that 125 persons are being accommodated at the Hague Primary School shelter. Ricketts-Edmund also highlighted conditions in Manchester, stating: "There are two persons in the Content Community Centre, and they are there as a result of rising water that was affecting the Content community."

She further noted that three additional facilities fall under the category of 'other'.

"For example, there is one that is a library, which is the Sturge Town Library in St Ann, and there is also the Drop-In Centre in Hanover," Ricketts-Edmund pointed out.