Déjà vu

Haunted by the devastation left by Hurricane Beryl last year – which flattened homes and ripped off roofs – residents of Compound Alligator Pond in Manchester have spent the last few days securing their houses and belongings in preparation for the approaching Hurricane Melissa.

For 28-year-old Devon Osbourne, the scars of Beryl’s Category 4 fury are still visible on his two-bedroom board house, which he shares with his partner and two young children. A sheet of plywood now covers what used to be a window, and the structure’s wooden foundation remains shaky.

As he nailed another board to reinforce a wall, Osbourne admitted his fear of what lies ahead.

“Mi deh here a pree and a meds it, and a try fi batten up di place and ting properly and tie it dung cause mi a imagine how dis ya storm ya a guh deal with Alligator Pond,” he told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.

Osbourne expressed particular concern about the system’s slow movement – comparing it to Beryl’s rapid pace, which caused widespread destruction.

Beryl, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic during June, intensified rapidly from a tropical depression to a Category 4 storm in less than a 48 hours, briefly reaching Category 5 with winds up to 240 km/h (150 mph).

At 2 p.m. yesterday, Hurricane Melissa was located at 16.6°N, 75.2°W, moving at two kilometres per hour. It is expercted to make landfall on Tuesday, moving through the centre of the island.

“It seems like it a guh terrible dan Beryl. Mi deh ya a fret, too. All yuh see mi deh ya a lay down, mi deh ya a consider wid mi two pickney dem,” Osbourne said.

The fisherman vividly recalled the terror of that July 2024 night when Beryl’s heavy rains and gusty winds battered his home.

“Mi deh inna di one room wid mi babymother, and when time the storm [pass] inna di night, how it did a gwaan, di whole a di rooftop a shake like everything did a guh lift off. If it never tie down mi feel seh it wudda gone,” he remembered.

He said that he has only just recently repaired the roof of one of the rooms, though requests for official assistance from various agencies which visited in the aftermath of the hurricane went unanswered.

Now, he’s once again taking matters into his own hands – using ropes, blocks, and plywood to secure the house.

Ruling out a move

to a shelter

Although he prefers to stay put, Osbourne isn’t ruling out a move to a shelter if the situation worsens.

“Mi a try fi do as best as how weh mi can do ya now fi try fi prevent it. If it necessary dat mi see seh it nah go help wi, ... mi haffi go move wid mi two yute dem and mi babymother, or mi try fi go to one neighbour fi [shelter],” he said.

Like many others, Sharon Johnson still hasn’t recovered from Beryl’s blow. She had to flee her home in the middle of the night when her roof was torn off.

“As di rain fall, the house leak, so yuh can just imagine di storm a come now, it traumatise mi ‘cause is like mi siddung and a worry ova it, seh if mi fi vacate from here suh or watch see wah gwaan,” she told The Sunday Gleaner.

Johnson and her partner, Cleon Banton, secured their roof again on Friday, but she doubts the house can withstand another storm.

“It (house) nuh strong enough fi tek another storm, and mi just feel seh if the storm come, it a go collapse ‘cause di flooring gweh, part a di floor inna dat side drop in already,” she said.

But even knowing this, Johnson expressed her reluctance to leave the house she has been living in for about two decades to seek safety in a shelter.

“Di TV and di fridge dem, suppose mi left and something drop pon dem and something, who a go deh ya fi tek dem up?” she asked.

Keval Lewis, acting disaster coordinator for Manchester, said at least six hurricane shelters are on standby across southern Manchester.

He noted that supplies such as beds, blankets, and sanitary items have been organised, and shelters will open as soon as residents arrive.

“Some of them are actually using Hurricane Beryl as an experience to make more preparations. I have been getting a lot of calls for tarpaulin, in particular, to cover up areas that may be exposed to water intake. People are trying to batten up as much as possible,” he said.

Robert Gordon and his partner Crystal have reinforced their small wooden home with sandbags and concrete blocks – the same measures they used before Beryl hit. He believes these precautions, combined with his faith, saved his life.

“The night when Beryl a come, I stand up pon my mattress and she (Crystal) a read di Bible. Mi hold di top a lart, and mi seh, ‘Jesus, can You hold up dis likkle place for me because I don’t have any to go live? Nobody nah go put me up [and] I don’t have anywhere to live’, so I talk to Jesus, and so mi a talk a suh di breeze a cut,” he recounted.

Rising sea levels

Tanika Henry, assistant manager at Little Ochie Seafood Restaurant and Bar in the community, said rising sea levels have brought the shoreline dangerously close – now less than 50 metres from the building. She is very worried about the potential impact a hurricane of Melissa’s magnitude could have on the restaurant.

Although a rock barrier was built to keep the sea at bay, she doubts it will withstand Hurricane Melissa.

“Whenever the storm comes the wave will hit the building. Hopefully, when it reach we, it pick up speed, because it’s not going to be pretty if its moving slow, with us and the water. Water and sand dig, it [will] dig under the concrete structure and tear it down,” she said.

However, she shared plans to batten down building and strap down its roofs when the hurricane gets closer.

Councillor Omar Robinson, who represents the Alligator Pond division, said his team has been clearing drains in flood-prone areas. He commended residents for taking the storm seriously but noted that some are still struggling to recover from Beryl.

“I have the list of those persons I know I have submitted for assistance and they have received not even a dollar. One person, in particular, is paying rent because he lost all of his dwelling,” he said. “Just imagine a year and you haven’t received a nail a zinc, or even a plyboard. The whole system would have failed those who would have been affected most.”

Dione Jennings, acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said the ministry continues to prioritise assistance for the most vulnerable after assessments are conducted.

“The social security team do their very best in assessing situations of persons who are victims of disaster and provide support as best as possible,” Jennings told The Sunday Gleaner.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com