PAGEE, St Mary — Linton Davis expects this fishing village to be flooded again this year and that’s why he can’t leave. He sees it as his duty to stay and help those living in Pagee, St Mary, who can’t swim.

“I can swim but what about all the women and children who can’t? I have to be here to help them,” he said with a wry chuckle.

His voice was heavy with resignation, his body language saying he is convinced there is nothing he can do to save himself the agony of once again watching his possessions being swept away.

Davis told the Jamaica Observer that during last year’s merciless floods he lost two goats and a cow. He has not recovered. He is understandably bitter and points the finger at residents of the nearby Frontier Phase 2 community. It is their garbage, Davis said, that washes down and blocks the drains.

“When the rain starts, all their garbage comes down on us and blocks the drain,” he told the Observer, pointing to a drain clogged by debris and plastic bottles.

According to Davis, the drain leads to the Pagee River and then into the sea. He explained that water from the Quebec River flows into the Pagee River when it rains heavily, causing flooding. In his view, in addition to the cleaning of drains, there is also a need to widen the mouth of the Pagee River.

Like Davis, fisherman Ryan Fable suffered losses last year. And he is well aware that this year he may have to once again start all over again. Like his neighbours, Fable said, he will not leave his house. He will simply do his best to protect his property. Disillusioned by memories of 2022, Fable has no faith that help will be provided if the floods come again this year.

“I lost everything [last year]. Bed wet up, everything; and I never saw anybody. They should have visited to see what we lost,” he complained.

Businesswoman Colette Morrison, who owns a small shop in the Quebec section of Pagee, has taken matters into her own hands. She has placed her furniture on blocks, hoping that will be enough to keep them dry. And she has added extra concrete steps to her shop. But she isn’t very optimistic.

“You prepare and you get wash out the same way,” Morrison lamented. “Water washed me out [last year]; my house will soon be in the road.”

She said she, too, intends to stay put as she has nowhere else to go.

In February 2022, sections of St Mary experienced major flooding after torrential rainfall. The capital of Port Maria was most severely affected, with more than 100 business places under water and closed for days after as they tried to dry out. Some Pagee residents were among those who received support from Food for the Poor during the week after the flood.

So far this year, there have been no reports of flooding in St Mary but in addition to February 2022, the parish suffered from heavy rains in 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2014.