JUNE is here, and scores of families are busy cutting the grass, packing boxes and stacking furniture. But these residents of Nightingale Grove in south-west St Catherine are not getting ready to go off on summer vacation. Instead, they are preparing for the heavy flood waters they fear will invade their homes again this year.

But it is not only the hurricane season that causes the residents of Nightingale Grove many sleepless nights. The slightest shower of rain sends a wave of panic through the housing scheme of approximately 270 lots. As a result, the residents are constantly living on edge.

Fifty-year-old Vinette Johnson is a woman at the end of her wits. For the past 25 years, the flood-prone community has been her home and as far back as she can remember, her life has been filled with nightmarish encounters that she would not wish on her worst enemy.

Whenever dark clouds hover above Johnson’s house, she becomes uneasy as she knows all too well what that signifies. To make matters worse, Johnson, who shares a house with her sister Florette McKenzie and other relatives, is disabled and has to depend on a motorised wheelchair or the kind assistance of family members.

Every year when the hurricane season brings torrential rainfall to the low-lying community, Johnson is among a number of residents who experience flooding.

“I do dressmaking for a living, and every time that I get a little break, we get flood out and I have to start over again,” she complained.

“In May when we get the heavy rain, I lost everything. My sewing machine and my wheelchair get mash up. I don’t have anything to work with now, so I don’t know where my income is going to come from but I still try to help myself. September is coming up and I usually get a lot of requests to make school uniforms, but I have nothing to work with now because all my equipment mash up,” Johnson said, pointing to the small sewing machine sitting on a wooden table in a corner of the room.

“Every year we have to buy back the same things when we should be buying something new. Instead of going forward, we are going backwards. We need help to move forward,” she added.

Johnson has been battling osteoporosis for more than two decades and depends on the money she makes from sewing outfits for neighbours to help provide for herself. Whenever flooding occurs, mainly due to a nearby river that regularly overflows its banks, Johnson and her relatives have to flee to a friend’s house for shelter.

When the Sunday Observer visited the community recently, preparations for a possible hurricane were evident at Johnson’s house. Weeding of the yard and the stacking of furniture were in progress.

“The flooding mash up mi life, I used to raise and sell pig, goat and chicken and I lose everything. Each time mi try, mi lose everything. So you can imagine what we going through.” Johnson told the Sunday Observer that she would love some assistance to purchase a new sewing machine and a wheelchair, as she is now unable to generate income for herself.

“There is too much discomfort living here. The struggle is too much. Even if you get a new mattress, the flood rain come and take it back. So it look like you are not trying. In May, we had to throw away about three barrels of clothes that dirty water damage,” Johnson continued.

She noted that since the hurricane season was in full swing, she had to start making preparations at home so that she would be ready to evacuate if the need arose.

“We start to secure the furniture and food already because any day we can be here and hear that the river come over. We cannot take any chances because the water mash up everything. Last time, everything was swimming – from clothes to shoes to pot and pan. It was a nightmare, and we pray to God that He will spare us because it is not easy to start over every time suh,” she said.

The story was the same for several other residents, including Rhona Barrett, who has been making preparations for the past several weeks. She said the river – a tributary of the Rio Cobre – that flows through the Coburn Gully behind the community, is the main cause of her many sleepless nights.

“Ever since I have been living here, the same thing happens every year and you can’t seem to save anything. In May we were flooded out. Normally, we would get a chance to pack up but that was not possible this time around – everything get wet up,” Barrett told the Sunday Observer, as she weeded the front of her yard.

She pointed out that as a result of the constant flooding, several residents had left the community to live abroad or in other parishes. She also complained about a bad mosquito problem that residents have to contend with.

Florette McKenzie, Johnson’s sister, noted that sometimes her house is flooded as many as three times per year, while Dougal Grant spoke of the stress he has endured as a result of the constant disruption of his life and livelihood.

“Dem yah life yah we can’t live with it. Mi ah old man now. Mi buy mi two-bedroom house and me can’t live in peace. Mi have to be running up and down. It stressful, man,” Grant said.

But like the other residents, he said he will have to seek shelter at his relatives’ home in an adjoining community.

Meanwhile, resident of the Nightingale Grove Citizens’ Association, Samuel Clunis, told the Sunday Observer that the lack of proper drainage, inadequate river training and lack of attention and support from the relevant authorities only serve to compound the woes of residents.

“When we get flood out, we don’t see anybody to complain to. We need to see people coming into the community to talk to the residents about the constant problem. We as residents do not business with the politics, we only business with the welfare of the residents. They cannot be treating us like this,” Clunis said. “There is no proper drainage and the water from other areas like Spring Village run come right down here and further add to the problem. We are fed up. We talk till we tired and nobody is paying us any mind. It is very frustrating,” he added.

According to Clunis, the situation is so grave that he sees relocation as the only solution to the problem.

“Even if the river is fixed, you still cannot be sure if the problem will be permanently alleviated. Therefore, relocation to government-owned lands is the only solution I see right now,” Clunis noted. “We need to have dialogue with the relevant authorities, especially our Member of Parliament Mr Warmington, who is not doing anything for the community.”

In the meantime, Barrett, who is currently unemployed, describes the atmosphere in the community as tense, saying residents are fearful that any day their lives will be turned upside down yet again. She said that a warning of the river overflowing its banks might come in the form of shouts of “River! River!” or by dogs barking wildly in the backyard.

“We are doing our little preparations still,” said Barrett, pointing to heaps of boxes on her verandah. A quick glance around at other yards reveals similar activity going on.

“You can just imagine what we are going through. It is really difficult living here, man. I am really considering finding somewhere to stay till the season end. Most people living here don’t have a choice. Many of us would love to leave here permanently, but where would we go? This is all we have,” she added.