A number of Jamaicans were last night taking refuge in shelters as Tropical Storm Tomas continued its slow march toward the island with eastern parishes receiving heavy rains from the weather system’s outer bands.

The total number of people in shelters islandwide was not immediately available but disaster co-ordinators, who are responsible for organising all the activities geared towards preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response during catastrophes, said they expected the number to rise by the time the unpredictable Tomas passes close to eastern Jamaica this morning.

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The co-ordinators said they would remain on high alert to help persons in distress, especially in areas that were still affected by flood waters from Tropical Storm Nicole at the end of September.

Last night, Jamaica remained under a tropical storm warning as Tomas moved toward the eastern end of the island with maximum sustained winds near 95 km/h (60 mph) with higher gusts, the Meteorological Service said.

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“At 7:00 pm the centre of Tropical Storm Tomas was located near latitude 16.9 degrees north, longitude 75.9 degrees west; about 110 km (65 miles) south-southeast of Morant Point, Jamaica or 425 km (265 miles) west-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti,” the Met Service said, adding that the storm was expected to pass near to the eastern end of the island last night and continue towards western Haiti and eastern Cuba by early today.

Disaster co-ordinator for the Kingston and St Andrew communities Isaac Nugent told the Observer that a number of city residents had fled their homes, while others were being primed for evacuation.

“Presently two shelters are opened with just seven persons for the time being, and we know that stands to increase as time goes by,” said Nugent. “The vulnerable areas are New Haven and persons are in shelters already there as well. The Tavern, Bull Bay and Port Royal areas are vulnerable. Those persons (Port Royal in particular) are being urged to evacuate if the need arises.”

Acknowledging that people are normally hesitant to leave their areas,” Nugent however said that the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) was on standby to move persons to shelters.

“We are preparing for the worst but hoping for the best,” said Nugent. A number of drains and gullies, he told the Observer, had been cleaned beforehand.

In St Thomas, disaster co-ordinator Shirley Nelson said similar precautions had been taken since the eastern side of the island was warned to brace for the worst of the storm.

“Some persons in Llandewey have already left their houses and are in shelters and others are planning to do so. Persons in areas vulnerable to storm surges, such as Friendship Pen, Duhaney Pen and other low-lying areas, are being encouraged to prepare for evacuation,” she told the Observer. Nelson, who had just emerged from a multi-agency meeting, said all shelter managers had been asked to report for duty.

“The National Works Agency has sorted out contractors in the areas that have trouble spots so that afterwards the roads can be cleared quickly; drains have been cleaned, the Princess Margaret Hospital is ready, they have enough staff, oxygen, fuel and water to keep them for at least a week,” she said.

Trelawny’s disaster co-ordinator Dion Hylton said residents in Wakefield, which is still experiencing flood waters from Nicole, had been advised to evacuate before the passage of Tomas.

“Our shelters are already open, as well as in other flood-prone areas,” she said.

In the meantime, Hilman Tate, disaster co-ordinator for Westmoreland, said relief efforts for that parish were still in high gear as persons who were affected by Nicole were still in need of help.

“Nothing had really stopped. Our teams are ready to respond and all agencies are on board. We still have areas under water like Exeter, Red Hill and Town Head. They have been advised what to do and how to respond in case of further flooding,” she said, adding that the more than 70 shelters in the area, of which 10 were on the priority list, were ready for opening.

“Some shelters can only be used during a hurricane and others after. All the shelters were inspected and some recommended for use during and some after,” she told the Observer.

Olga Faye-Headley, disaster co-ordinator for Hanover, said that sections of the parish were still reeling from Nicole’s onslaught. “We have limited amounts of supplies because we have been responding to the needs from Nicole, but arrangements are being made to replenish the stock. We still have rising waters here in Chigwell,” she said.

Faye-Headley said food packages were being prepared for distribution, adding that all shelter managers had been put on alert.

“If we should have storm surges in Lucea we have shelters there. In Chigwell, where we have rising waters, things have been put in place there as well. Everything is more or less under control so far,” she said.

Meanwhile, Denise Lewis, disaster co-ordinator for Portland, assured that everything was in place to “ensure as usual that the populace is given the usual humanitarian treatment”.

She added: “Zonal committees and emergency response teams are on the alert. Everything is under control as it relates to our response. We have supplies in stock and on the way, so we are in good stead.

“We have also pre-positioned supplies in areas such as Fellowship, Buff Bay, Berry Dale, Swift River, Shirley Castle and others that are invariably cut off each time there is severe weather and persons are trained to respond accordingly.”

And Alvin Clarke, the disaster co-ordinator for St Ann, said while Tomas was unpredictable “the entire parish is on alert”.

“We have met with all the key groups and we have looked at the resources that we have to see how each agency can assist the other. We have readied 12 shelters in the areas in which flooding is most likely and we have everything ready for them to be activated,” he said, noting that areas such as Pedro River in the parish are still recovering from Nicole’s battering.

In St Elizabeth, it was a matter of “balancing on the ball”.

“Considering we are just recovering from Nicole I think we are prepared well for this,” said disaster co-ordinator Renae Britton. In some areas of the parish we are still flooded so we have predeployed items to a number of our vulnerable areas. We have established a communication system amongst our shelter managers and the parish emergency operation system has been activated.

“The only community we would classify as still flooded is the New River community where persons are still in shelters from the last system. New Market is still experiencing flooding from the last bout of rain and we are expecting it to flood even more after this set of rains,” she said, noting that areas such as Vineyard and Arlington still have water.

In Manchester there were fears for the Comfort Hall community in the south of the parish

“Comfort Hall is the major challenge we have in the parish right now,” said disaster co-ordinator La-Jean Powell. “It is pretty much inundated from Nicole, but the roads are clear. A number of households are still displaced and persons are staying with families and friends.”

“If we get a lot of rainfall it is going to be problematic, we just have to wait and see what happens because we can do absolutely nothing about what is happening right now,” she said.

According to Powell, relocation was the wisest option for persons in that area.

“I am envisioning that some of those people be relocated because those areas are not suitable for dwelling and it has happened in the past and it has recurred. Maybe we have to consider certain sections in the parish disaster zones and further development prohibited because what has happened is that some of these people carry out their development without the approval of the council,” she noted.

“It might be that they have to be relocated, it’s going to be hard seeing that all kinds of ties have been developed, but the discussion has to continue,” she said, adding that about seven households were affected with an average two-three persons per household.

“The water is stagnant now, but if this rain continues a section of the community may be marooned, so we have our eyes open for that,” she said.

In St James, the activities were pretty much mirror-like.

“We had several meetings with different agencies and all our shelter managers have been alerted and are on standby,” said Tamoy Sinclair, disaster co-ordinator. Sinclair said 15 of the 70 shelters in the parish were listed as priority.

Yesterday, in preparation for storm conditions, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management ordered all schools in eastern parishes closed.

It further advised that with the conditions of a tropical storm likely to be felt within the next 12-24 hours, all businesses and Government entities in the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew, St Thomas, Portland and St Mary initiate 12-24 hour pre-impact activities, essentially the phasing down of operations for non-essential workers by mid-day yesterday.