- Updates from the Islands -

- - Jamaica - -

| home | tools | pleas for help | QHWRN | guide | climatology | archive

- - - 2001 Hurricane Season - - -

- Montego Bay Damage and Weather Report
  • From: "monique rodman" <monique_rodman AT hotmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2001 13:35:57 -0500
Hi:

I am pleased to say that Montego Bay was not hit hard by the passing of 
Michelle.  However, there is some amount of damage to roads.  Two hot spots 
have suffered damages.  They are located on the waterfront and as a result 
received a good beating from the waves.  It did rain yesterday but 
thankfully, there are no floodings or landslides to report in this area.

For the rest of the week we expect good weather with sunshine and wind.  
Friday and Saturday may be humid. The sun has been shining since the start 
of the day and it does not seem that it will rain at all today.  However, I 
am hoping that the weather will get better for the rest of Jamaica soon.

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp


- Michelle
  • From: "George Scarlett" <george.scarlett AT cwjamaica.com>
  • Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 14:33:21 -0500
Folks,
Michelle has not come very near to Jamaica but the rains we are experiencing is the most that we have had for a very long time. According to radio reports, quite a few of the major roads in Kingston are currently flooded.
 
I drove around in Portmore, the largest residential district in the English speaking Caribbean, about two hour ago and the water in the canal in Greater Portmore is on the verge of overflowing. With the rain now falling heavily, since the past hour I fear there maybe severe flooding.
 
Fortunately there is no wind to compound the situation.
 
Hanging in.
 
George
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

- This weeks weather
  • From: "monique rodman" <monique_rodman AT hotmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 09:54:49 -0500
There's a new storm in town, Michelle.  However, since the start of the week 
we have not been experiencing great weather at all.  There has been rain, 
rain and more rain.  Some parishes have experienced floodings, land slides 
etc while others have just experienced mild to heavy showers.  Those areas 
most affected were St. Ann, St. Mary and Portland which are Parishes located 
in the northeastern and eastern sections of the island. Portland was hardest 
hit with people having to evacuate their homes, some homes, bridges and 
roads being washed away and landslides destroying houses.  The Office of 
Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management is presently assisting all 
affected areas.  There are reported cases of road blocks in St. Ann, St. 
Mary, St. Andrew, St. Catherine and Manchester.

We hope that the weather will get better soon but forecasters predict lots 
of wind and some rain for the remainder of the week.

Montego Bay has experienced alot of rain since the start of the week but I 
think it has been bearable so far.  Kids are still going to school and 
people to work.  Businesses are operating as usual and everyone is sporting 
a raincoat or umbrella.

Let's hope for the best.
Later.

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp


- Conditions in Jamaica
  • From: "George Scarlett" <george.scarlett AT cwjamaica.com>
  • Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 08:03:50 -0500
For the past several days the sun have not been seen. We have been having intermittent light to heavy rains.
 
Today the rain has started again, there is no breeze but the place is cool.
 
Reports from Portland, a parish on the north eastern side of the island, is that there is destruction all around from the continuing rain over the last few days. The member of parliament has requested that the area be declared a disaster area. However, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) disagrees with the MP.
 
Below is a clip from a local newspaper on another parish, St. Catherine.
 
 
 
Debris, caused by heavy rains over the past two days, settled on sections of the Bog Walk Gorge in St. Catherine yesterday. However, clean-up efforts were undertaken and traffic was diverted for only a couple of hours
 
George
 
From Jamaica
 
 

- Iris
  • From: "monique rodman" <monique_rodman AT hotmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 10:16:22 -0500
Reporting from Montego Bay

Iris is gone and I am sure everybody in Jamaica is glad that we were not hit 
harder.  I woke up yesterday in expectation of high winds, lots of rain, 
thunder and lightening.  But when I peered outside, there had been a slight 
drizzle and that was it. Not much activity took place downtown and it 
actually resembled a ghost town at 9:00 a.m. yesterday.  Places that were 
otherwise open were closed and only a hand full of vendors could be seen.  
The rest of the day was very gloomy with little showers here and there.

I skimped through one of our local newspapers today, which reported that 
some sections of the country were hit with strong winds and heavy rains, 
resulting in injury to at least two people and the disruption of water and 
electricity supplies.  The areas hit by heavy rains included such parishes 
as Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth 
and Westmoreland and certain parts of St. James.  The Office of Disaster 
Preparedness and Emergency Management reported that there were power cuts in 
sections of several parishes including Kingston, Portland, Manchester and 
Catherine, as utility poles went down following the heavy rains. There was 
also flooding in some Manchester communities.

We are now monitoring Jerry and I hope it will dissipate before reaching us.




_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp


- Hurricane Iris
  • From: "williams" <babydansmom AT cwjamaica.com>
  • Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 08:53:23 -0400
I'm Sandra Williams
I live in Hope  Pastures and I beg to differ on the level of preparation across the island.  The stores in Mall, Tropical and the springs Plaza have either put up their storm shutters or masking taped their glass windows and doors.  From as early as 2 pm local time there has been a run on the supermarkets, noticeably Superplus and HiLo.  they were breaking out new stocks of candles and canned goods especially sardines, corned beef and mackerel. At 7 pm Empire in Cross Roads had a similar situation. Gas stations, Captains Bakery was doing brisk business at 9 pm and it was not the normal Saturday night crowd. Candles, batteries, flashlights, lamps etc were going fast. Longlife type juices were also hot commodities.  In hope Pastures, people were fixing roofs, pulling up awnings and securing furniture, while water was.  Some even trimmed trees near to their homes.  On Friday night there was a run on gas stations as people filled up their tanks.  In Portmore, there was heavy winds at 4 am (report from a mother who was up feeding her baby). there has been light to moderate rains here in hope Pastures with significant rain. On this side of the island, people have been taking the hurricane seriously.

- from Negril
  • From: "Mike" <tall-p AT cwjamaica.com>
  • Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 12:01:36 -0500
Amazing!  At the last moment, Iris goes South around Jamaica, rather than North, as all the predictions had it!  Here it is 12:00 noon, and I guess that the eye is due South right about now.  We have no rain, and now wind yet on the West tip of the island.  Once again Jamiaca is lucky!

- Hurricane Iris
  • From: "Joyce Campbell" <joybell AT cwjamaica.com>
  • Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 07:59:14 -0700
At 7:52 AM  October 7 2001
 
Jamaica, Old Harbour
The sky is bleak and there are intermittant showers. There are no winds yet. Radio station is reporting that there is slight shift of the storm Iris to the south.And there might not be a direct hit.
 

- Iris over Jamaica
  • From: "David and Corinne" <swil AT mail.infochan.com>
  • Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 06:19:04 -0500
Good morning Gert,
 
6:15 a.m. in Kingston now, and up to now Iris has been pretty easy on us. It rained steadily throughout the night, and has only recently started to give some gusts. For the past half hour - hour it has been quite gusty, though nothing worse than a normal storm so far. It looks as though the eye has remained south of us, and we are hoping that it will keep on this path.
 
Until later....
 
Corinne Smith

- iris
  • From: Andrew Green <ochiboy AT yahoo.com>
  • Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 04:30:43 -0700 (PDT)
This is Andrew Green
I live at Eltham View, about 20 miles west of Kingston
and one of the many dormitory communities for Kingston
in the Parish of St. Catherine.
We have been having light to heavy showers for a fe
hours now. There is absolutely no wind.
It is dawn and we are doing some battening down here,
bet there is little evidence of anyone else doing so.
There was a rush on SOME hardware stores yesterday and
the supermarkets did not seem to be doing any extra
business.
Jamaicans have not taken Iris seriously.
Too many false alarms recently, and when you have been
through Gilbert with gusts approaching 200 mph, it is
hard to be in awe of this one.  
I suspect the farmers will not be so relaxed though.
Andrew

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
NEW from Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month.
http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1


- Iris over Jamaica
  • From: "David and Corinne" <swil AT mail.infochan.com>
  • Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2001 23:10:02 -0500
Hi again Gert,
 
11 pm now, and we're all battoned down for the night. There has been a lot of lightening and thunder all around us. Iris is reportedly about 125 miles ESE of Kingston, so we are expecting to start feeling the effects a bit more seriously soon.
 
Will write again in the morning if C&W and the power company are still functional.
 
Corinne Smith,
Kingston Jamaica

- Iris
  • From: "David and Corinne" <swil AT mail.infochan.com>
  • Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2001 15:16:51 -0500
Hi Gert,
 
Thanks for the message on Friday, as it your warning that caused me to go to the supermarket that evening, to avoid the rush being experienced now. I had heard nothing locally, and was going about my business, listening to jazz music (instead of the news) and preparing for a Sunday picnic. We have postponed this picnic for another time.
 
This is one of the first times that I have written despite the fact that I have been a correspondent for about 4 years. This was a good thing, as it meant that we were getting no "action" to write about. I am hoping that this letter will be the first and last I write this year, but only time and the the good (crazy) men in their flying machines can tell. So we wait. I am in Kingston, and the weather right now is lovely - big fluffy clouds (how's that for technical) and a pleasant, light breeze. I have been teaching my son the value of being  good at math, and he has calculated that if the storm maintains it's present course and speed, we should begin feeling the effects of Iris in about 8-10 hours (her outer bands). So we wait, and we watch and we pray. There has been a very delayed reaction to this storm by most of the population here, most likely because of the number of false alarms we have had recently. Now, however, there appears to be a bit more urgency, as grocery and hardware stores have  suddenly become crowded, and the realization sinks in that this may actually come our way.
 
I will keep you up to date on the happenings here, but hopefully will have no reason to write again.
 
And the meantime, we wait.....
 
 
Regards,
Corinne Smith 
 
 
 
 

- Update
  • From: "monique rodman" <monique_rodman AT hotmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 14:31:09 -0500
I am located in Montego Bay, St. James.  Chantel was expected to hit the 
island yesterday.  A Hurricane watch was in effect for Jamaica as Chantal 
regained strength Friday (August 17, 2001)afternoon and was expected to 
further strengthen that night.  At 5pm, the centre of Tropical Storm Chantal 
was located near latitude 14. 3 degrees North, Longitude 67 .4 degrees west 
or about 912 kilometres east southeast of Morant Point.  The local news on 
the said day listed a few southern parishes as areas which would receive the 
hardest hit from the storm.  These parishes includes St. Elizabeth, Kingston 
and St. Andrew and Portland.

It was expected that the island would experienceshowers and thunderstorms by 
Saturday afternoon (August 18, 2001) as the system passed in the vicinity of 
the Pedro Banks. Chantal was expected to become a dangerous hurricane by the 
time it got west of Jamaica.

Fishermen on the cays and banks were advised to return to mainland while 
other small craft operators were advised to return to port and those in port 
not to venture out. Most places in Kingston were prepared for the storm as 
metal sheeting were used to cover glass windows.  The Office of Disaster 
Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) was also prepared for Chantel.

On Saturday morning, there were a few showers in Kingston and slight rain in 
Montego Bay.  The sky was dark and the air was still.  In the evening 
however, the sun came out in its brightest form in city of Montego Bay and 
by 6:00 p.m., we had a little rain.  Not much went on in Kingston that day 
except for high winds.

On Sunday (August 29, 2001), we experienced rain in Montego Bay until about 
10:30 a.m. and the rest of the day was basically dry and gloomy.  Not much 
people came out of their homes.

Today, everything is back to normal.  According to one of our local 
newspapers (published today), Jamaica was spared by Chantal's fury.  
However, a number of trees and utility poles were felled in different 
parishes along the south coast due to heavy winds associated with the storm. 
  Reports received by the ODPEM advised of downed power lines and flooding 
of several yards in Port Royal.

It is also said that the hardest hit Parish was Portland as a few houses 
lost their roofs, floodings occured and trees were uprooted by the force of 
the winds.  None of the resort Parishes (St. Ann - Ocho Rios; St. James - 
Montego Bay; Westmoreland - Negril) were affected by the storm.

This is all the information for now.

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp


- Chantal over Jamaica
  • From: "Mike" <tall-p AT cwjamaica.com>
  • Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 18:43:21 -0500
The whole time Chantal has been passing south of us here in Negril on the western tip of the island, we have had two brief showers.  No winds.  All day it has been very cloudy, witout a break, but no rain, no winds, and no pounding seas.  Maybe later tonight the waves will come, like it was with Mitch.

- Weather (fwd)
  • From: Gert van Dijken <gert AT vandijken.com>
  • Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 05:11:20 -0400 (EDT)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 00:13:49 -0700
From: Carlene Rowe <carlene_rowe63 AT hotmail.com>
Subject: Weather

At present it approximately 12:02 am, things are calm in my area
(Kingston). But not that calm that is usaually experience before a
hurricane. The time is still very hot, and the temperature might not begin
to fall until about 2:00 am in the morning.

People will begin to shop by tomorrow just in case we are hit. From what I
am seeing from the satellite, if it moves due west then we should get some
strong showers from it. However, if for any reason it move northwest then
we are in trouble. I will send you another report tomorrow at 10:00 am
with more update on the happening on our island.


- Chantal Is Approaching but...
  • From: "Mike" <MikeNegril AT hotmail.com>
  • Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:24:43 -0500
Chantal is heading toward us here in Jamaica, but all the predictions have her passing well to the south ( http://www.pcwp.com/current.html ), so everyone in my town of Negril, which is right on the western tip of the island, are remaining calm.  We expect rain all over the island, and big seas along the southern coast.  Of course just a little change in direction of a few degrees, and everything would change dramatically.

- Chantal is Approaching fast, but....
  • From: "Mike" <tall-p AT cwjamaica.com>
  • Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 15:26:07 -0500
Chantal is heading toward us here in Jamaica, but all the predictions have her passing well to the south ( http://www.pcwp.com/current.html ), so everyone in my town of Negril, which is right on the western tip of the island, are remaining calm.  We expect rain all over the island, and big seas along the southern coast.  Of course just a little change in direction of a few degrees, and everything would change dramatically.

Back to top | home | tools | pleas for help | QHWRN | guide | climatology | archive