Fearing floods - Two Manchester residents seek shelter early as Hurricane Melissa draws near

Fearing their homes in New Forest, Manchester, would flood, 65-year-old Jewham Davis and 57-year-old Trevor Barnes were two of three men who proactively sought shelter as slow moving Hurricane Melissa started to hit Jamaica on Sunday.

“We are living in a flood zone, whenever time di water come down it floods us out. So we decided to make use of the shelter before the storm,” Davis told The Gleaner, from the New Forest High School where he is sheltering.

He said he was at the shelter last year during Hurricane Beryl, safe from the rage of the category four storm as his home was hit by severe water damage.

“You have to leave whenever time these things come up. You have to leave,” he said.

On Saturday night, the beds at the shelter were not made available to them as the shelter manager was not present, so the men lined together chairs to make a bed.

It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep, but they said they made it work. “Now that the manager come and out things together, it's much better. He give us sleeping things and make us some promises for other things to come, so mi feel much better,” Davis said.

“Whenever time the rain fall water come through the building,” a seemingly despondent Barnes told The Gleaner of his home.

“He recalled being in the hospital last year during Hurricane Beryl. At the time, he had recently undergone surgery to amputate his right leg.

There was little he could do to secure his house from Hurricane Melissa that is expected to make landfall in Jamaica as a category four storm on Tuesday. Barnes said he packed what he could, and ensured his safety at the shelter.

“To me it’s a more safer place than to go to family members,” he said. “Mi just choose to come here suh.”

Shelter manager, Windell Anderson said the facility is now equipped about 25 beds, 30 blankets, sanitary conveniences, and food items-enough to assist about 50 people for up to three days.

Only two people were at the shelter last year, and Anderson said he anticipates that the numbers will increase as the storm progresses. He also stated that he has been receiving inquiries from residents in the flood prone, Alligator Pond community.

“Alligator Pond is a district that is reluctant in vacating, but they are querying, so I expect that more will turn up, more than last year,” he said.

Alligator Pond resident, Kadedra Johnson, says although she doesn’t intend to evacuate the community, she is hoping that residents who are more at risk will do so.

“I think persons who don’t have the necessary place, should move if they can. Some of the houses that are not up to standard, if you see it’s necessary to move just move,” she said.

Keval Lewis, acting disaster coordinator for Manchester, told The Gleaner on Friday that 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.

He said residents have been using their experience in hurricane Beryl as a cautionary tale on how to approach hurricane Melissa.

“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.

Some 218 persons were in shelters across the island up to midday Sunday, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie reported.

-Sashana Small

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