With recent rains causing severe flooding and landslides in Gordon Town and other areas of St Andrew, Shawn Burgess is a picture of concern, with his house precariously positioned between the storied Hope River and a hillside he is praying will remain stable through the continued rainfall.

Like other residents of the area, he is already enduring a different nightmare, with recent rains eroding a section of the main thoroughfare into the community, which can now only be accessed by foot or motorcycles.

While there have been talks by officials of relocating persons who have built homes in areas prone to disaster – by force if necessary – especially where the structures may be compromised by weakening or eroding river banks or landslides as a result of continuous rainfall, Burgess said no one had approached him on the matter.

Living on a hill below the road suffering the breakaway but above the banks of the Hope River for the last 10 years, Burgess told The Gleaner that while the river could potentially unleash its fury on them, the main threat at the moment is the hillsides above him.

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