In one of the more extraordinary official pronouncements in recent times, The Gleaner reported yesterday that the director-general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Ronald Jackson, said that the island has reached breaking point.

Not that the notion of being at or near saturation level with what seemed at one point to be incessant rainfall is novel. Jackson's statement certainly reflects popular sentiment in a situation where weeks of rainfall, coming after the pre-election ravages of Hurricane Dean took a serious toll on not only tangible resources, but must also have had a debilitating effect on the intangible but still very important national psyche.

However, what gives the ODPEM director-general's pronouncement a sense of foreboding is that he does not speak from a layman's point of view and his assessment of the breaking point is based on the evidence before him.

As reported in The Gleaner, Jackson said: "The manifestations are evident. You can see it in terms of the implication on the infrastructure (as well as) the social implications on people ... who are dislocated, whether it is temporarily or in the medium term ... That is why I say we can't take or sustain any more periods of rain."

In addition, with rehabilitation work under way on all-important Corporate Area streets, such as Marcus Garvey Drive and Spanish Town Road, another bout of heavy rain would be a serious setback in terms of money, as well as time.

Of course, to many it will seem as if Jackson is saying the obvious and, in a country where murder is commonplace, the cost of a free light bulb project could just blow a financial fuse, and millions have gone missing from the precincts of the Ministry of Finance, it could be dismissed as simply being another in a list of ills to befall the country.

And it could be pointed out that it is, after all, a land of wood and water.

But the statement could, and should, be taken as a strong warning for all to raise their level of preparedness, in case there is much more rain.

For if the country's infrastructure is at breaking point, then surely it is incumbent upon individuals to put supplies in place in case they are stranded for extended periods; or relocate to safer zones.

It is also a warning to the powers that be to make sure that the infrastructure is in the best possible condition of readiness for the next hurricane season which, in a situation of rising temperatures globally, is likely to be as active as the current one, which will soon be officially over.

Repairs, as well as preventative maintenance, should be done to the highest standards, because shoddy work is sure to show up at critical moments where it may be a matter of life or death.

At another, and perhaps more serious level, the intangibles of mind and spirit ought not to be forced to breaking point. That, of course, depends on social and business activity and every sphere of our lives as an independent nation.

From family and school, playing field, and workplace as well as the councils of politics and government, national unity must be preserved.