Daraine Luton and Michelle Letman, Sunday Gleaner Reporters

Good Samaritans help to push while the van at right pulls this car, which got stuck in the Yallahs ford in St Thomas, yesterday, during heavy rains. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

IT is as if his world is about to collapse; his eyes light up and almost pop out of his head.

Jim (not his real name) is in trouble. His Toyota Corolla motor car is stuck in the middle of the Yallahs ford in St Thomas, and the river is threatening to sweep the vehicle into the sea.

It is perhaps the longest 15 minutes in Jim's life and just looking at him, you know that his thoughts are moving faster than his limbs. Like other motorists, Jim is trying to get as many things done before the weather worsens.

Instability

Since Friday, eastern parishes have been taking a beating from an organised system west of the island, which has produced wind and rain. According to the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, "The instability produced by the system will persist across sections of the country and its territorial waters throughout today."

The Met Service further advised that a flash-flood watch - implemented yesterday - remains in effect for low-lying and flood-prone areas in eastern parishes until today.

Just after noon yesterday, when The Sunday Gleaner team visited St Thomas, men were warning motorists of the impending danger.

"Di river soon come down," one man shouted.

One by one, motorists sped through the temporary road in the Yallahs riverbed. It is a bumpy ride, but drivers are prepared to fly.

However, it is not long before nature decides that motorists would have to use the alternative route via Woodburne, which is long and winding.

It is a journey motorists dread, and they are praying for the day when the new Yallahs bridge is completed.

The Yallahs River swells by the minute, and by 2 p.m., it is almost impassable. So much so that a bus driver has to test the depth of the water on foot before convincing himself to take a chance with his passengers.

Jim is coming from Kingston. He had assessed the situation, but made the wrong decision. In the end, he has to wait agonisingly for 15 minutes after his car got stuck in the middle of the swelling stream.

Four women on board quickly abandon the vehicle. The Sunday Gleaner team swapped its news badge for a rescue tag, but try as we might, the team is unable to push Jim's car out of the now-rising river.

Jim has one option remaining: Get a rope and have a motorist pull him out. He searches feverishly in his car trunk and finds what he thinks is the answer: a piece of string, the size of a shoelace.

"Try this!" he shouts, but no one pays him any attention.

Someone soon finds a piece of rope with which another vehicle pulls the endangered car out of the water. Jim's eyes return to their normal size almost immediately.

No threat to island

The Met Service has advised that the weather system will continue to move on a westward track across the island, which could see northern parishes being affected.

All marine interests, especially fishers on the cays and banks, are warned to exercise extreme caution as gusty winds and choppy seas may be encountered in the vicinity of thunderstorms.

The Met Service maintains that Hurricane Bertha is not a threat to Jamaica. The forecast is for Bertha to slowly weaken during the next few days.