Residents tense as Tomas draws nigh

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

With Hurricane Tomas becoming more of an imminent threat with each tick of the clock, several St Andrew residents with houses dangerously perched along gullies are still trying to decide whether they should move to higher ground should the weather system make landfall in Jamaica.

For Daisy Young, however, seeking higher ground tops her list of priorities should flooding begin.

Young is the mother of 34-year-old Skeeta Young who, along with her boyfriend and four children, perished just over a month when her two-storey dwelling was swept away by flood waters.

A two-bedroom dwelling in the Sandy Park community, neatly perched along the banks of the Sandy Park gully almost adjoining remnants of what was her daughter's house, is where the elder Young calls home.

But, with the dreadful memories of the morning of September 29 still fresh in her mind, home is not what it used to be.

"As the rain set up, mi waan move. With the death a mi daughter, the least little thing mi get frighten," she said, adding that she would be seeking refuge at a nearby church at the first sign of flooding.

"Up to last night, mi find mi self a think bout it and a cry. All when mi deh a work mi a call home fi mek sure somebody deh home with mi husband because him not well," she said with sorrow etched on her face.

Nowhere to go

Like Daisy Young, 31-year-old Camelia Scaley has been living along the periphery of the gully all her life. And with the September 29 incident still fresh in her mind, and only a zinc fence separating her house from the gully bank, Scaley does not see herself taking permanent residence elsewhere anytime soon.

"Wi nuh have nuh weh else fi go but yah so," she said, pointing to a two-storey house she told The Gleaner she currently shares with a family of 15.

Scaley, however, has her mind set on seeking temporary refuge at the Sandy Park Basic School the moment the gully becomes inundated.

A visit to Sherlock Drive near Whitehall Avenue, where most residents share housing similar to that of persons in the Sandy Park community, the story is somewhat different.

A woman who identified herself only as Donna has been living near the brink of the gully for the past 39 years and, like most residents, does not see herself moving to higher ground should the hurricane strike.

"Mi nuh have nuh weh else fi go and mi caan run weh left mi things dem," she said.

Lloyd Richards, who has been making a living as a cabinetmaker along the gully bank for the past 18 years, is also weighing in his mind whether to move his business to higher ground. However, the question of where to go still boggles his mind. He told The Gleaner that, just last month, his shop was flooded and his materials were extensively damaged from heavy rains associated with Tropical Storm Nicole.

"Mi have to move out mi boards dem and mi nuh have nowhere else to move to," he lamented.