LACOVIA, St Elizabeth — Placard-bearing residents of districts here in this south-central parish on Tuesday showcased their frustration over flooding affecting their homes and livelihood by blocking the Lacovia main road and demanding that drains in the area be cleared immediately.

The roadblock was swiftly cleared, allowing the flow of traffic between Lacovia and points east and west including Holland Bamboo and Santa Cruz. However, motorists have recently had to contend with flooding in Santa Cruz and Lacovia due to heavy and persistent rains.

“Even the main road, because this water spreads all the way from Redding to Dry Harbour, all the way back down to Morgan square and then it flows across the road down to Holland Bamboo, so it is a lot of water, it also contributes to traffic build-up along that corridor as well,” Member of Parliament (MP) for St Elizabeth North Western Andrew Morris told journalists on Tuesday in Lacovia.

“This area has been suffering in recent weeks due to the heavy rainfall. Unprecedented rainfall has severely affected the residents here. They are restless, because the water has been rising daily and it is getting worse. Graves have been affected,” he added.

He also said the livelihood of scores of residents, including farmers, have been affected due to the restriction of movement in the area.

“People cannot get out to get a taxi to go about their business. Their farms have been affected significantly, because they have their chickens, pigs and goats dying due to the flooding that is taking place, so I understand their frustration,” Morris said.

The MP said consultation has been ongoing with chairman of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation and Mayor of Black River Richard Solomon to find a solution to residents’ plight.

“I was here looking at the problem and up to yesterday (Monday) I shared the concern and videos with the mayor who has promised to get his engineering team to come and look at it today (Tuesday)… to see how best it can be addressed,” said Morris.

“Residents have suggested that there is a drain that is somewhat blocked. I can’t say for sure, because I went to the location and I haven’t seen any blockage really, but maybe beyond that in the flooded water maybe there are things there,” he added.

Residents of Lacovia said they are at their wits’ end due to the persistent flooding.

“We can’t live in this anymore, if the MP did come down here and come see what we live in down here, he would drop down. Him a come talk about he ‘pass through’; only that him do. Him don’t look,” said a resident who gave her name as Sharon.

She said the flooding has brought back painful memories of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa that battered the area on October 28, 2025.

“The water [went away] after Melissa and now this rain. From about January, February we get water [flooding] and this is the water we are living in. We don’t have no MP, no councillor. We don’t have anybody. The water take we middle and soon rotten it out and we cannot take it no more,” she said.

The small-scale poultry farmer, who lost 100 chickens, is now trying to raise another batch of birds. That has brought its own challenges.

“I have to live with my chickens in my house. The first ones drowned and see, I got more there. I have to take them and move them into my house, so that is what we are living in. I have to put them in my living room and live with them,” she said.

Glenford Smith, a resident of Lacovia, shared similar views on the inconvenience caused by flooding.

“Water affects the people here all the while. Roughly one-and-a-half miles of water blocking the road. People cannot stay inside their houses and the children can’t come out of the community to go to school,” he said.

“There is a government drain that is supposed to remove this water, but the drain is blocked. The drain leads to the Black River,” he claimed.

Another resident, Nigel Nish, also pointed to the blocked drain and called on the authorities to swiftly remedy the situation.

“I have been living here for 60 years and whenever the water rises in a few days it runs off, but now because the drain is blocked it cannot run off. Right now I walk through the water and it actually caught me up at my waist, so that is why we are out here demonstrating and bawling for help,” he said.

“We know that when it rains and floods a lot of houses are affected, but ours is extraordinary because of the drain. We are crying out to the authorities to please come and clear the drain, because we cannot go and clear it,” he appealed.

A waterlogged yard in Lacovia, St Elizabeth.

A waterlogged yard in Lacovia, St Elizabeth.

Glenford Smith, a resident of Lacovia.

Lacovia resident Nigel Nish.

A resident of Lacovia who identified herself as Sharon said she has lost 100 chickens due to flooding.