Gustav survivors adjust to life in West Albion

In West Albion – where several Hope River survivors were resettled after Hurricane Gustav – residents say they are no longer sitting ducks on the riverbank, but the relocation has brought its own set of challenges.

Patricia Wallace, 62, who lost her Kintyre, St Andrew home in 2008, said the relocation initially felt like a blessing. But an incomplete road and drainage system now cause chronic flooding.

Washed out of her home in Kintyre, Wallace was delighted when she was handed the plot of land, along with $500,000 worth of building materials to start over. At the time, there was no roadway near her gate, and there were no problems when it rained. That all changed some years later when a still-unfinished roadway and drain were constructed.

“After they built the road, the water started to come. As soon as a little rain falls, the whole yard starts to flood out go into the house,” she said.

Fearing Hurricane Melissa’s impact, she spent nights anxiously watching the sky. In the end, the system – initially forecast to barrel in from Jamaica’s southeast – veered away, leaving that side of the island largely untouched while hammering the western parishes.

Fresh start

Her sister, Joyce Wallace, believes the move from Kintyre to West Albion offered a fresh start. Joyce lives a few houses away on another street and does not contend with flooding whenever it rains.

She lost everything when her seven-bedroom house was destroyed in Kintyre. The relocation to West Albion has given her a chance to exhale.

“You know why? Over here is really comfortable and quiet for me. I am not in any gunshots, no wars, no whole heap of boys on the roadway giving problems,” she said. Joyce recalled how she narrowly escaped death during the passage of Gustav.

She said her sister called out to her to flee her home as the river started to eat away at their backyards during Gustav.

“As I came out, the house just went down,” she said.

As for carpenter Wayne Wheatley, whose spouse and stepchild were allotted the land before they migrated, West Albion could not be a more comfortable place for him.

“The place is nice, bad, man. The community is crime-free, and it is very quiet. If a pin drops up the road, you can hear it,” he said.

With hundreds of families displaced by Hurricane Melissa, Joyce is supportive of suggestions for the resettlement of some of the residents in western Jamaica.

“I think that it is good if they can relocate the people in the west, but it just depends on where they are going,” she said. “Like here, here is good. We don’t have any problems, no men on the walls. It is really nice. So if it is an area like this, I would say yes,” she said.

The Government has announced plans to establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NAR), a statutory body tasked with leading and fast-tracking the country’s post-disaster rebuilding efforts.

Reporting directly to the Office of the Prime Minister, the NAR will oversee initiatives aimed at strengthening Jamaica’s resilience against future natural hazards. Among its key priorities is the relocation of residents from high-risk zones, ensuring that communities living in flood-prone or erosion-affected areas are moved to safer, more sustainable locations.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com