IT had been two days since the passage of Hurricane Melissa, and still some residents in Cave Valley, St Ann, were unable to access their homes due to high water levels that flooded the town.

The community was engulfed in muddy flood waters that seeped into every nook and cranny, submerging the asphalt roads that once led the way in. In some areas, water levels reached only the ankles or knees, but in others, entire homes and buildings were swallowed, and rooftops peaking out were the only reminder of what stood there. Residents said the water had started to recede by last Thursday, but before, the entire town was under water.

For Adolphus McNaughten, it is the fourth time his home has been flooded. When the Jamaica Observer visited the community last week, he stood staring at the yellow and red structure he had to abandon when the water came rushing in.

“I can’t go down there. Me nuh live nowhere now. I [slept] at one man yard last night and tomorrow night me ago affi go [another] one, because I [don’t] know when me ago get in but I know [that] I have to clean up because [it’s] not the first, so I know how it stay,” he shared, slouching over in defeat.

He pointed to a microwave and a mattress that were laid out to dry, sharing that he had managed to take them out of the house, but could not do much more until the water levels recede.

He thanked God that the home was still standing, sharing that, in previous floodings, he had to start from scratch.

“One of the time when it flood, it lick down and move [the house] and I [had to] build it back up fresh. Next time it came, it [didn’t] move it, but it washed it down, and I had to repair it again. About three months ago I bought a stove and put it in the house enuh, and now I have to go buy one again. Everything in [there] mash up, all me fridge in there,” he told the Observer, lifting his hands in defeat before slamming them down on his thigh.

“I can’t do anything. I just have to wait until the water gone to see what me ago do,” he said.

The 81-year-old said he is alone and has nowhere else to go. McNaughten said his home sits on land that was passed down to him by family members, and he cannot find it within himself to leave.

“I have to go find money now to buy back my mattress, and I [have to] go find money now to buy plywood and fix up back my place, and me nuh have it,” he said, distraught, but with a hint of determination in his voice that he’ll recover.

From a two-storey building at the entrance of the valley, Christopher Clarke was seen looking down at the mud-, water-, and debris-covered town. He shared that he watched the scenes of the flood unfold in real-time from his business place on the second floor of the building. Water levels started to rise about eight in the morning last Tuesday and did not stop until two the next morning, he said.

“When the rain started to fall, I [saw] the water starting to come in from over that side and take time to start to come in until it circled the place. It started to flood up [the town] and just a rise and a rise, until it started to cover down all of [the houses].”

“Me deh upstairs and me look down just as how me deh here so right now. All when me up here so I started to [feel] afraid because the water came right up to under the step. It cover the hardware [store], it cover the vehicles; it was very serious,” he said in disbelief.

He shared that he and his partner had two vehicles parked on a hill, ready to escape if the water continued to rise but, thankfully, it didn’t.

Clarke shared that when he heard about Category 5 hurricane, he wasted no preparation time. He secured his home in the valley and fled with his partner and children to his shop.

He said he was alive during Hurricane Gilbert and learned in 1988 that a hurricane is a serious event that one should not take lightly.

“When Gilbert came [I was] 16 years old and people did a say none nah come. Them time there, I was in Kingston and people did say that say none nah come, so I always take it serious from that. Every hurricane and any flooding I hear about, I prepare, but I never knew that it would [be] so big at Cave Valley this time with [Hurricane] Melissa,” he told the Observer.

“We prayed [that] she would die out and all kinds of things, and if she can shift or turn, because I know how Cave Valley stay. We always drown down a we yard, whether Melissa or any other flooding,” Clarke added.

He said the town is a flood-prone area, but he cannot recall a time the flooding was as bad as after Hurricane Melissa.

“It go all the way back around, you see all these houses back there, it go way back around, all the supermarkets and these places flood out — everything under water. The whole town crash now. Everything under water and flood out with goods in them.

“This drown, that drown, the supermarket drown, the hardware drown, everywhere drown. When I say it cover down, it cover we down enuh,” he shared, chuckling as he managed to find pockets of joy in the disaster.

He said it will be months before things will go back to normal, especially since the entire area was without electricity and water, with no timeline on when services would be restored.

As the Observer left the community, rain started to trickle, slowly building in intensity. It was a cruel act of nature that sent a signal that the flood was not yet over, and residents may have to wait even longer before they can access what is left of their town.

A farm seed store in Cave Valley, St Ann, is almost covered with flood water from Hurricane Melissa on Thursday, October 30, 2025. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)

Adolphus McNaughten, a resident of Cave Valley, St Ann, looks at his house in the centre of flood waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.