THE flood waters from Hurricane Ivan have long receded, but the nightmare continues for most Portland Cottage residents still struggling to recover from the onslaught of the 2004 disaster.

For Stacey Miller, the approach of the 2007 hurricane season fills her with dread as memories of Hurricane Ivan are fresh in her mind. In fact, she says whenever raindrops pelt her rooftop at nights, or the wind howls outside her window, she doesn’t sleep. She is afraid, she says, that a storm may be brewing – like the one that caused serious wind and water damage to her home on the night of September 11, 2004.

Miller, 27, pregnant and unemployed, lives with her husband Kevin, and her mother-in-law Olive, in Portland Cottage, which was one of the worst hit communities in Jamaica during the passage of Hurricane Ivan – which claimed eight lives in the district.

“We can’t take another Ivan. No sah. Last night when I hear the rain, I couldn’t sleep because me start think ’bout Ivan. Is this morning me drop asleep,” Miller told the Sunday Observer, the worry evident in her voice. “We never expect it. Massa, we ah pray to God that we don’t get anything like that ever again. Mi remember how we did have to swim out of the house and climb over the wall to go next door,” Miller added, before breaking out into a peal of nervous laughter.

But Miller will readily tell you that life in Portland Cottage is no laughing matter.

The more than 1,000 people who reside in Portland Cottage experience many different problems as they try to make life and survive in the district. As in many rural communities in Jamaica, the residents face harsh socio-economic realities on a daily basis. There are terrible road conditions, water woes, high unemployment and poor living conditions. But during our visit to the area, one major concern surfaced. The frustrated residents say the main cause of their nightmares is the absence of a proper drainage system, which they blame for the incessant flooding in the community. President of the Portland Cottage Citizens’ Association, Carol Forbes, was quick to point this out.

“We don’t have good drainage here and right now we are having some serious problems because of that, as you can see,” Forbes said.

“Some of the drains have not been cleaned in years and until the cleaning is done, we are still going to have flooding whenever the rain falls,” she said, adding that there were three main drains in the community and seven smaller ones.

“They are all NWA [National Works Agency] drains. Work was done on one of the main drains sometime ago because of the malaria eradication programme, but the others have not been touched so that causes the water to back up into the community instead of running off into the sea,” she explained.

Senior resident Miss Cherry, who spoke to us while hanging clothes on her line, echoed similar sentiments.

“My concern is the poor drainage system that we have right now. If it is fixed then the water will run off. The drains are not being cleaned and that is causing a big problem for us residents,” she said.

“When there is heavy rain, the water come right over from as far as Lionel Town [a nearby district] and because the drains are clogged up, the water doesn’t go into the sea. The roads are bad too, but I feel that if the drains are fixed then the problem won’t be as bad.”

Forbes told the Sunday Observer that lack of funding is preventing residents from doing some of the work themselves.

“The lack of funds is a problem because even when people want to do voluntary work on the drains, there is no assistance. We can do so much and no more. We need the help to get the work done properly,” said Forbes. “We agree that the area is low, but when the drains used to be cleaned regularly we didn’t have this much flooding. Because of what happened in hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Emily, people are tense. It is surprising that the government waits until the flood comes for them to do the work. When the earth is dry, that is the perfect time. We are fed up,” Forbes added.

Member of Parliament Rudyard Spencer says he has made numerous requests for assistance for work in the community. But so far, nothing has been forthcoming.

“We need more funding from the government because there are several drains in this district, in Mitchell Town and Rocky Point to be cleaned. We would like to do more work but without the funding it is extremely difficult,” Spencer told the Sunday Observer, while highlighting several other problems the community faces.

“The road leading into the community is frighteningly bad and several requests have been made for it to be repaired, but those seem to have fallen on deaf ears…”.

In the meantime, Spencer said the community was also grappling with issues relating to water and electricity.

“Water is another burning issue. We [Spencer, Forbes and other residents] had a meeting in Kingston recently with the National Water Commission (NWC) to discuss the problem and to see how a water project for the community can be established. We met with the President [EG Hunter] and members of his technical team. Another meeting has been set up with the ONR [Office of National Reconstruction], Hunter and myself to determine when the water project can begin because we need to ensure that water goes to Portland Cottage. We are really hoping to get the water woes behind us,” Spencer said.

He said, too, that following a meeting with the Rural Electrification Programme (REP), the managing director and his team agreed to extend the electricity service in Portland Cottage.

“The facilities are not there in certain parts of the community so approval has been made to set up more light posts so that more residents will have access to electricity,” Spencer told the Sunday Observer. “I’m feeling a glimmer of hope that there are better days ahead for this community.”

As we continue our tour of the community, the warm golden sunshine breathes life into the dull landscape. There is not a cloud in the sky. But, as Miller tells us, at the first sign of dark clouds or raindrops, the residents become uneasy. The recent rains [which caused flooding in other districts such as Nightingale Grove, Bullet Tree and Red Pond in St Catherine] provided a sharp reminder for the residents of the danger they face, compounded by inadequate drainage, should another Category Five hurricane hit Jamaica.

“We wouldn’t like to experience anything like that again. We are praying and hoping that God spare us this time,” said Paulette Ramdas, a middle-aged Indian woman, who insisted that we take a look inside her house at the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan.

“Last night when the rain was falling, I thought I was gone. If a hurricane should come tomorrow, you don’t have nowhere to go because the school is going to be full, the centre is going to be full and if you leave your house, the pickpockets and thieves are going to want to target your place. God not going to let you die. It is better you stay in your house. And when your house is damaged, HE will help you fix it little by little.”

Another woman, who said she lost a Mitsubushi motor car during the onslaught of Hurricane Ivan, said she was “staying put” should a hurricane hit Jamaica in the coming months.

“Mi naw go plan fi move fi people cum bruk mi house. No sah. Me willing fi remain here,” she said.

Donovan Ramdas, 44, a contractor at the Jamalco bauxite plant in nearby Halse Hall, said he would have nowhere to seek refuge.

“When rain set up, everybody start fret. We nuh have nowhere fi go if another flood come,” he said ,adding that the night Ivan struck was one of the darkest he can remember.

“A pure zinc mi see a fly. One chop mi pon mi foot,” he said, rolling up a leg of his trousers, to show the scar.

Another resident, who gave her name as “Lucilda” said she is planning to move to her sister’s house in case of a disaster alert.

“When me think ’bout it, me get scared because ah struggle me have to struggle to get back on mi feet after Ivan. I was so stressed. I lose thousands of dollars and me can’t afford for that to happen to me again. I felt like I was going to faint when me come back and see the condition of the place,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Miller, who lost the roof of her house during Ivan, said she would have to move to higher ground or out of the community, especially since she now has a two-year-old daughter and another child on the way.

“To be honest, when we heard that persons in low-lying areas like Portland Cottage should evacuate because of the hurricane, we never took it seriously. We never think a tidal wave like that would have hit the community. But now, I think many people will be moving, probably to a shelter, if we hear of another one coming,” she said.

“Whenever I hear them say ‘Move’, I definitely will, because it is not me alone this time. We still working on the roof and we have put up some blocks by the verandah to keep the water from coming in,” Miller said.