Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
Left: Shopkeeper, Sandra Swaby points to the water mark on the side of her shop in Great Bay. St. Elizabeth. Right: A resident of the Great Bay community in St. Elizabeth, Vincent Parchment, points to the water mark on his gate. - PHOTOS BY CLAUDINE HOUSEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WESTERN BUREAU:
After being devastated during Hurricane Wilma last year, residents of Great Bay in St. Elizabeth are waiting with bated breath to see what calamities this year's hurricane season will bring.
In October last year, several families were displaced when nearby ponds broke their banks and flooded their homes, forcing them to evacuate by boat.
PRECAUTIONS TAKEN
"I do what I can with the house. I put bolts in all the windows and I have plywood with holes bored so that when the hurricane comes I just bolt those to the window and secure it," said Vincent Parchment, a resident of the community. "I also have rope to strap the roof down because my roof is a new type of roofing. I have plenty food and water and I have a generator."
"Since the hurricane I get a Delco plant to run my fridge and freezer and get my light," Mr. Parchment added, noting that it took six weeks for the water to recede enough for him to move his car out of his garage. He added that the water was so deep that he caught six pounds of fish from the top step of his veranda.
A community of farmers and fisher folk, not all the residents of Great Bay can afford the kind of preparations that Mr. Parchment has put in place. In fact, there are those who have resigned themselves to simply evacuating when the time comes and returning when the situation is better.
"Well if I hear anything I can't stay (so) I plan to pack and leave," said shopkeeper Sandra Swaby. Her shop, which is located almost at the centre of the Great Bay community, was flooded with over three feet of water when the pond overflowed last year.
ALTERNATIVE ROUTE
The floods also affected president of the Citizens Alert Group of Treasure Beach, George DeLeon. According to him, his family was displaced for three weeks during the floods. He said that he wants to make upgrades to his home but cannot because the St. Elizabeth Parish Council has re-classified the area as flood prone.
"Until the channel is complete and the authorities re-classify the area back to domestic we cannot rebuild or upgrade our homes (so) for the time being we have to be living in our existing form," he said.
Even as he continues to contemplate how he will protect his family, Mr. DeLeon as president of the Citizens Alert Group is actively working on creating an alternative route to the community should the current entry point be made impassable by flooding.
