A boy watches a downed utility pole in Braeton Phase One. - Anthony Minott photos

Many Portmore residents were affected by Hurricane Sandy, a Category One system, that hit the island Wednesday afternoon.

When THE PORTMORE STAR ventured in to the Sunshine City, some people were mopping up after the storm, and trying to bring their life back to normal. Most homes up to Thursday evening were without electricity.

Many homes were flooded in sections of Braeton and Greater Portmore. Along the Hellshire main road, across from the Braeton Phase One community, workmen from the Jamaica Public Service, worked feverishly to repair light poles that were down, as passers-by and motorists looked on. Later in the afternoon, traffic piled up on that thoroughfare.

In Greater Portmore, a tractor cleared debris from a drain across from 3 West, however, the bothersome drain, which separates the Greater Portmore high and primary schools, was still overgrown.

In Braeton Meadows, residents complained of flooding and overgrowth in a gully near their community. They are also calling on the relevant authorities to clean the drain which harbours mosquitoes and other rodents.

Two persons told our news team that they spotted a crocodile in the drain. "Is one crocodile in deh, him just walk up and down in a de bush as him like," one man said.

In a section of Old Braeton, some residents' yards were flooded. In Gregory Park, some homes were flooded and damaged. People had to seek refuge at relatives and friends. The famous Port Henderson Road hip strip, more popularly called 'Back Road' was spared the usual sand and water damage caused by former storms, and mainly fallen trees were seen.

Residents in the areas of Garveymeade, Southborough and Newland may breathe a sigh of relief as the big Southborough drain is currently being cleaned.

Member of Parliament, for South East St Catherine, Colin Fagan, said that the storm didn't seriously impact the communities he's responsible for. He, however said of concern was the drain at the entrance of Waterford, where there was a blockage, but was quickly cleared by workmen.

"What the communities suffered were mainly fallen trees in Passagefort and Portmore Gardens. What residents are reeling from is the power outage, and water disruption. What I'm happy about is the spirit of the community and people, working together to clean up debris and fallen trees. The remedial work was done in that we cleaned the drains, we did the work and the community has coped fairly well," he said.