Bull Bay resident still haunted by floods

July 28, 2025
Donna Marie Clarke talks about how floodwaters damaged her home on Weise Road in Bull Bay, St Andrew.
Donna Marie Clarke talks about how floodwaters damaged her home on Weise Road in Bull Bay, St Andrew.
There are still signs of how high the waters rose during a past flooding of the area.
There are still signs of how high the waters rose during a past flooding of the area.
The Chalky River gully.
The Chalky River gully.
Clarke said that she has not received any assistance in the aftermath of the floods.
Clarke said that she has not received any assistance in the aftermath of the floods.
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It has been three years since floods swept through Weise Road in Bull Bay, St Andrew, but for residents like Donna Marie Clarke, the disaster never truly ended.

Living near a confluence locally known as 'Trio', where the Chalky, Cane, and Y.S. rivers meet, Clarke is constantly reminded of the day the water rose like a monster and nearly consumed her home. Her walls still bear the scars, flood stains, deep cracks, and clumps of dirt embedded in corners. Outside, concrete blocks and sandbags form makeshift barriers, a desperate attempt at self-preservation. Thick silt piles up behind the house, and the river, quiet for now, runs just steps from Clarke's back door.

"The dirt almost higher than the house," she said, describing the buildup that now surrounds her property. "Yuh can stay pan the dirt and jump pan the housetop."

There was a massive flood in 2020, but for Clarke, it pales in comparison to one in 2022; Clarke's family has struggled to recover. The downpour came on a Sunday, disrupting her plans to cook dinner. Instead, she found herself scrambling to higher ground as what she described as "red muddy water" swept over rooftops.

"From yuh see the red muddy water a come down, take weh yuh self," she told THE STAR. "That's when yuh know say danger near."

She lost all of her appliances, and even her front door. The clean-up has been more than she and her husband, a construction worker who is paid irregularly, can afford. With a young granddaughter still in school and a baby in the house, the family's finances are already stretched thin.

"Tractor man charge how much thousand dollar per hour," Clarke said. "Mi cya put the dirt pon the sidewalk because it ago run dung inna di road. Mi nuh have nuh truck."

Inside her home, she keeps a weathered journal where she has recorded each disaster, what was lost, what help was promised, and the silence that followed.

"One lady come tek picture inna mi yard say dem can help," Clarke said. "All now wi nuh see the help."

Residents across the Nine Miles area share similar anxieties. Some say they panic whenever the sky turns grey, while others rely on visual cues like the colour of run-off water to decide whether to pack up or stay. These fears are rooted in past trauma and a present-day reality that has seen little change.

The Chalky River, though classified as a dry river, transforms into a violent torrent during heavy rainfall. When it overflows, it barrels into homes, displacing residents and uprooting lives. In 2022, residents called for urgent repairs to a damaged culvert and pleaded for gabion baskets to reinforce the riverbanks. Some blamed earlier floods on the reported excavation of a concrete bank, which they say left the area more vulnerable.

One resident said he tried repositioning boulders near the culvert to protect his yard but was stopped by authorities. He has since abandoned his unfinished home, citing financial constraints. Despite repeated calls for intervention, residents say support has been limited. For many, relocation is not a viable option.

"Mi nuh know why people think say fi get up and move a one simple something," Clarke said. "This house a di last thing mi have inna mi name."

Some residents say they were offered relocation options, including to areas like Albion in St Thomas. However, concerns about safety and unfamiliar terrain led many to refuse.

"Fi crocodile come nyam wi?" one resident asked. "Go where?"

Still, the risk remains high. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be one of the most active in recent years, with up to 23 named storms predicted, nearly half of which could strengthen into hurricanes.

"What people don't understand is we live where the river breaks," said one resident. "And every time it rain, wi heart break all over again."

THE STAR tried unsuccessfully to get a comment from Juliet Holness, member of Parliament for St Andrew East Rural.

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