Be patient with power restoration

THE EDITOR, Madam:

As of the penning of this letter, it has only been around 48 hours since the passage of Category 4 Hurricane Beryl, and much to my shock and disbelief, multiple MPs have publicly chastised the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) and their supposed “lack of response” to this major, complex crisis. Apologies are due post-haste.

Sometimes in our ignorance and lack of patience, we forget that the JPS is comprised of human beings, each with their own families who love them, many who might not even have power at home themselves. While Jamaica was spared from a direct hit, we were not spared of widespread devastation. These workers left their families at home after a history-making hurricane, by choice, to serve the Jamaican people. They were ready to begin as soon as ODPEM gave the green light. We, as a people, who were still in our beds or cleaning our yards the morning after the hurricane, should consider bearing this in mind. Our inconvenience is not to their bemusement.

The JIS website describes Category 4 hurricanes as ‘Extreme’, with extensive destruction of trees and buildings, and large-scale flooding. The National Hurricane Center describes it as being capable of catastrophic damage, where framed houses can sustain severe damage with loss of roof structure. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas, and outages may last for weeks, even months.

I am penning this letter from a pitch-black house at 8:38 p.m., bathed in mosquito repellent and with the windows wide open, where there has been no power or running water for over 48 hours. But I also acknowledge that people died during this hurricane, and scores more have been made homeless. Many in our beloved breadbasket parish lost their only source of income.

If the only thing you have to complain about is not having power, scrape the last of your patience and emotional intelligence and stop having angry outbursts against the people who are trying endlessly to safely restore your power; it especially shouldn’t be coming from the older people who experienced Hurricane Gilbert and the three-month wait.

KAYMAR BROWN