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Janell Mannings is scared. She has heard talks of the possibility that a tropical storm, which has developed in the Atlantic, could strengthen into a hurricane as it moves into the Caribbean waters. She has experienced storms before but the thought of one coming Jamaica's way has her uneasy. Her board house is weakened from years of existence and battering from the elements.

"I can't take a storm or hurricane because the house is not strong," said Mannings, while adding that whenever it rains she has to set pans on the bed because the roof leaks.

"Getting a hurricane right now, I would be homeless. My kids and I will just be left outside," she said.

Mannings, who lives in Bog Walk, St Catherine, works as a bartender but says she does not earn enough money to afford her a better place to lay her head.

"The little money I'm making from bartending is only for food and it is week on, week off, and my boss tell me not to come back until August 5, so I don't know what I'm going to do for those three weeks," the 25-year-old Mannings said.

LOW ON RESOURSES

The distraught mother said she has attempted to construct a place of her own, but her resources ran low.

"Is only the concrete for the bottom I manage to accomplish. I bought some plyboard because I asked around and got some money," she said. "I have about 12 sheet of ply, so I would need other boards to build up the structure. I just want to put a shelter over my kids' heads," Mannings said.

The mother of two said that she has tried many things to get ahead; however, life always seems to take a negative turn. She told THE WEEKEND STAR that she attempted three Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects a few years ago and was unsuccessful. Determined not to stop there, Mannings said that she started to go to a nursing school but did not finish because her parents couldn't afford the school fee.

Janell Mannings may be contacted via telephone at (876) 521-3921.