US issues travel advisory

[Shelly]

US issues travel advisory to Jamaica because of drought
Published: Thursday July 31, 2014 | 1:10 pm 0 Comments

The US Embassy in Kingston has issued a travel warning to its citizens travelling to Jamaica because of the severe drought conditions in the country.

The embassy says travellers are to be careful and alert of their surroundings, especially when driving in rural areas and to monitor local media reports and heed warnings from local authorities.

According to a statement from the embassy, Jamaica is currently facing severe drought conditions, which have dried out much of the underlying vegetation throughout the country.

It says because of these dry conditions, fires can start unexpectedly and change direction quickly.

[captaind]

The West end of the Island has not been as badly affected as the East and central area.

St. Elizabeth parish is really suffering from the drought.

[gordo923]

Great I'm coming Monday

[Rob]

While St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland (Negril is on the border between Hanover and Westmoreland) have been receiving adequate rainfall for most of the year, this brush fire problem is much more of an issue for those venturing the south coast. Fires can spread unpredictably and drivers are taking caution when traveling through St. Elizabeth. If you have never driven in Jamaica before, now is probably not the best time to try it. Leave the driving to your experienced tour operator.

Even Kingston is not immune as there was a bad fire this past week in Jack's Hill. But we have been extremely lucky in the Negril area. The drought has not effected us as we had an unusually rainy April and May.

[Marko]

who would have believed that wi had more rain this Winter than wi have had this Summer......
though wi have been getting showers....and I didn't really known anything about a drought till mi saw this thread...

Cool Runnings, Marko

[TAH]

St. Elizabeth has been dry all year. We were there back in April, and they were having pretty serious water issues then. Strangely, we saw more bush fires in the West End than in TB.