Robert Morgan, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic, Growth, and Job Creation with the responsibility for works, is reporting minor damage due to the impact of Tropical Storm Rafael on Tuesday.

“We did have damage, but it wasn’t as significant as what we have seen before in the likes of Beryl, so we must be thankful. We didn’t lose any roads really, but we had some significant landslides, particularly in west rural St Andrew; we had some landslides [in] several other communities,” he noted.

Morgan who was speaking at a post-cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, November 6 added: “In the general appraisal about 15 roads blocked totally, 10 flooded, minor road damage was about two—we had about seven single-lane situations where there was only single-lane access and two totally impassable roads.”

Morgan said the National Works Agency is now working to create single-lane access to facilitate the movement of students and residents.

“The second phase will be the clearing, which is the total clearing of the roads that have landslides on them. The longer-term problem is that there are some areas, for example, in East Rural St Andrew, where we have had major landslides, which have essentially destroyed roads. We saw one on television where the entire community has been cut off. That is going to take some time to repair. There are also some other minor slippages that have taken place. The NWA is currently in the field doing their assessments to see what the damage is, and I am sure the prime minister will be giving an update as to what the damage is and the cost to the country is,” he added.

Areas most impacted by Tropical Storm Rafael on Tuesday include St Ann, St Mary, St Andrew, and St Catherine.