A homeless man, who seems mentally challenged taking refuge near a gully in Ocho Rios while the island was lashed by rain associated with Tropical Storm Elsa. (Photo: Horace Mills)
‘Mi pray to God the flood don’t come back’
CAVE VALLEY, St Ann — Still waiting for State help to repair the damage done to her bar last hurricane season, Sophia Campbell is among residents of this flood-prone community who are dreading the next six months.
The familiar feeling of having their possessions damaged or destroyed has them worried about the wrath this hurricane season has in store.
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“Mi pray to God the flood don’t come back because it rough and is like we can’t prepare for it,” Campbell told the Jamaica Observer.
Her modest establishment is particularly vulnerable as it’s made from ply board.
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“Mi a fret because mi shop flood out two times already. I have to [keep] buying stuff to fix over the shop because the water took off the two sides. It is not easy because a sheet of ply is $10,000 plus to paint over and such. All now the shop really don’t fix back properly because mi have mi daughter going to school and it is costing mi money same way,” Campbell said.
A police vehicle makes its way along a flooded Marcus Garvey Drive in St Andrew during rains associated with Tropical Storm Elsa last year July. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)
“Them come assess mi shop, take pictures, write down mi name and such, but mi still don’t get any help all now. So I have to go ahead and do it on my own because I depend on the shop for a living,” she added.
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Forecasters have predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, running from June 1 to November 30. This is bad news for Campbell and others in Cave Valley, like 25-year-old Sherona Johnson whose hair salon was covered by flood water last August. She plans to move at the first sign of rain this year.
“…When the rain start mi have to just move out mi stuff from the shop. Right now mi scared because mi can’t afford to lose anything again. The hurricane season is here and I just have an open mind to know that it can flood anytime,” she stated.
“I don’t even think there is much that the Government can do because they have tried to widen the river banks and the water still overflow. We just have to know that when wi see rain wi try to move out our stuff,” Johnson added.
However, it appears local representatives have not given up. Councillor for the Borobridge division in which Cave Valley falls, Winston Brown (People’s National Party), told the Observer that work will be done in an attempt to mitigate flooding.
A fallen tree on Molynes Road in St Andrew during heavy rains and winds associated with Tropical Storm Grace in August 2021. (Photo: Karl McLarty)
“Through the parish council, a drain cleaning programme is set to commence on [June 6] to clear some of the critical drains in the area in preparation for the hurricane season,” he said.
Shadeed Harvey, who last August rode out Tropical Storm Ida in a car after her family home was destroyed by fire, is among those hoping the State will be able to help. Even though she is actively preparing to do whatever she can to secure the house in which she now lives, she thinks she will need help.
“Mi remember what happen to mi last year and how mi did cold and have to be in a car when rain a fall. Mi can’t go through something so hard again. Mi family give mi a house to stay but it want to fix up because the roof a leak and such. So if hurricane come mi flood out. Mi a try go down a the MP office to see if they can help mi with some zinc and so to fix up the place before the rain start fall,” she told the Observer.
