NEARLY a year after Hurricane Beryl ravaged Portland Cottage in Clarendon, residents say they are still struggling to recover, with many homes still needing repairs, some completely destroyed, and growing anxiety amid another hurricane season.

“This is the start of a new hurricane season and up to now plenty of us don’t get any help,” said Mavis Hudson-Brown, postmistress for the Portland Cottage Postal Agency.

Hudson-Brown recounted the devastation meted out by Hurricane Beryl when it skirted the island July last year, describing how flood water swept through the community, displacing residents and destroying homes and belongings.

“When the sea come in it took away many things because even the windows and the doors, when I left my house and come back, there is no window, no doors, and the things dem wash out [of] the house,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

The Portland Cottage resident criticised the lack of adequate shelter, noting that the designated community centre remains unrepaired and the school is unreliable as a shelter due to recurring damage.

“They say we have shelters, but there is no shelter… you can’t depend on the school, because plenty time dem mess up the school and so you can’t depend on staying by the school,” Hudson-Brown said.

While she acknowledged assistance from Food For the Poor and Central Caribbean Kitchen in the form of food, clothing, and limited housing repairs, she said many residents are still in need.

“Right now we want plenty help, because some of the people can’t afford it… we really don’t want, by the help of God, no hurricane or storm, cause we can’t manage that,” she told the Sunday Observer on a recent visit to the community.

Shop owner Lenford Whyn also shared his experience of displacement and loss.

“I gone through a lot… mi did have to leave out here go out a di top scheme deh a one concrete-top house fi secure mi things dem,” he said. “House top gone, everything; mi bed wet up, mi mattress wet up, mi lose dresser, mi lose mi fridge.”

Whyn said he received some help, including materials from the Lasco Group of Companies and PWD Hunting & Sporting Club, as well as $40,000 through the hurricane relief fund. Still, his shop remains poorly stocked, and he said the business barely makes a profit.

The shop owner made a direct appeal to Clarendon South Eastern Member of Parliament Pearnel Charles Jr.

“You know how much time mi a call him and can’t get him… mi wah see him personal, for even a money mi would a borrow from him,” he said.

During the visit, the Sunday Observer team observed damaged houses, some still roofless or patched with old zinc, as residents brace for more rain.

Clement Rhoden, another resident, said his house is no longer structurally sound.

“We don’t feel safe. Anything can happen right now because the building collapse and we live underneath it here, and we cannot sleep sound at night-time,” he said.

Rhoden received two instalments of $36,000, but said the funds were insufficient to rebuild safely. His relative, Rena Rhoden-Wright, shared that she had applied for support through Food For the Poor and the National Insurance Scheme parish office, but has not received a follow-up. Though she was granted $150,000 in March, she said those funds were redirected following a death in the family.

“It coming back again and we don’t know what to do. So it’s very, very sad,” Rhoden-Wright said. “I don’t know what else to do. I’m thinking about calling the prime minister.”

Dahlia Ragoo said her son, Jefferson Black, lost everything when the hurricane destroyed his one-room house.

“The hurricane blow it totally away… nothing left, just the bottom of it,” she said.

While he received two $20,000 payments through Western Union, Ragoo said the Government has done nothing else. Ragoo added that her son is currently living with her.

At Portland Cottage Primary School, designated as an official shelter, Principal Dale Edwards said repairs made after the hurricane were not up to standard.

“If we [have bad luck] and we get another hurricane, it’s going to go again, with the quality of the repairs,” he said. “The school… should be extremely secure.”

Parts of the school’s roof came off during the storm, and critical areas like the office were damaged. The fencing and gutter system repairs are still outstanding.

Edwards also raised concerns about safety and the protection of school property, recounting how during Beryl evacuees damaged a 15-year-old admissions book in order to start a fire.

Several residents expressed frustration at what they see as a lack of urgency and partisan responses from their elected representatives. In response, Councillor Winston Maragh (Rocky Point Division, Jamaica Labour Party) acknowledged that many residents were overlooked during the official post-hurricane assessments.

“A number of people were bypassed,” he admitted. “People could not have waited for assistance… they had to find any old zinc, any old board and tack on back their roof.”

Maragh said that flawed assessment methods and poor timing between Beryl and another storm, Rafael, made it difficult to properly evaluate damage.

“The people who were going out there did not have the technical eye… they wouldn’t be able to look at that roof and say well, that one was blown off,” he said.

Maragh emphasised that both he and the Member of Parliament deliberately stayed out of the assessment process to avoid accusations of political bias.

“All we were trying to do was truck water into the area… I was trying to get a generator to go to the pump,” he said.

Maragh added that Food For the Poor was contacted to assist with repairs, but due to limited materials, the response was to patch roofs in multiple homes rather than fully fix any single house.

“They didn’t have enough material… so they put on a piece a roof here, a half a roof there… just to touch everybody,” he said.

Since speaking to residents in Portland Cottage, the Sunday Observer has reached out to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Food For the Poor for comment. However, up to the time of publication, no response has been forthcoming.