assessment of the socio-economic and environmental impact

IV. INFRASTRUCTURE
The impact of the hurricane on infrastructure included damage to roads, water mains and utility
poles. Direct damage was estimated at $3.44 billion while indirect was estimated at $150
million. It is important to note that information to evaluate damage and losses in the
infrastructure sectors was not fully available at the time of the assessment. Some service
providers were still executing restoration and recovery activities and were, therefore, unable to
quantify the total cost of damage. The estimation of damage and losses in infrastructure
presented is, therefore preliminary and is subject to change.
a) Electricity
1. Public Utility Systems
The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS), the private entity entrusted with the
provision of electricity in the island, stated that Hurricane Dean did not significantly affect the
Company’s generating units, although there was some infrastructural damage at some of the
power stations.
The transmission system, however, sustained severe damage, particularly in the southern
parishes. Indications are that the damage from Hurricane Dean on the transmission system was
significantly greater than that caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. There was damage to about 60
of the Company’s 72 transmission line segments, plus some damage at a number of substations.
On the power distribution system, all of the Company’s 114 distribution feeder circuits suffered
some level of damage. In addition, close to 3,000 pole locations show signs of damage, while
approximately 150 kilometers of power lines were destroyed (See Figure 4.1).
In order to minimize long-term damage to key elements of the power system, JPS started the
phased shutdown of the power system on August 19 by shutting down the electricity in eastern
and southern parishes, where customers had been experiencing power outages earlier in the day
as a result of broken power lines. An all-island system shutdown was effected in the afternoon
as the island began to feel the full effects of Hurricane Dean.
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