Twenty-one children, including this young child, were among 31 residents of Spring Pass, St. Thomas, who were being housed at the Yallahs New Testament Church of God in the parish yesterday. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Mother of three, Verene Cook, did not wait until rising flood waters entered her home before she evacuated. Instead, the Spring Pass resident scooped up her children and headed for shelter at the nearby New Testament Church of God in Yallahs, St. Thomas.

"Any time it rains everybody 'round there flood out," Ms. Cook said.

The mother also sought refuge as, she said, crocodiles were swimming in the flood waters.

"I hear say crocodile in the water and I wasn't going to wait to find out. From I leave I don't even go back at the house," she said.

31 residents

Ms. Cook was among 31 residents of Spring Pass, called Back Bush, who were sheltering at the church yesterday and had been there since Tuesday.

A two-year-old was among the 21 children who have been dislocated due to persistent showers across the island since Saturday.

"Even if the rain stop, we need two days of sunshine for the water to draw," one resident said.

The residents said the community was sometimes like a swamp and, as the name suggests, water springs up throughout the community whenever it rains. A river also runs close by the community in Yallahs.

Shelter manager Paulette Bernard-Taylor told The Gleaner that many of the residents from the community had not yet recovered from Hurricane Dean which lashed the island in August.

"Some of them who are now affected are using tarpaulin to cover their roofs," Mrs. Bernard-Taylor said.

The shelter manager also thanked the church for housing the residents as they had encountered difficulty in finding shelter.

"We checked at the school (Yallahs Primary) but because they are having classes we couldn't stay there," she said, adding that they were also turned away by a church in the community.