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With grey skies hanging low over the Kingston coastline and waves licking at the broken lighthouse road, both signs of an impending storm, some Port Royal residents are standing firm.

As Tropical Storm Melissa drifts slowly west across the Caribbean, Jamaica remains under a tropical storm watch, with the Meteorological Service warning of heavy rains, rough seas, and possible hurricane conditions. But even as the government urges evacuation from low-lying coastal areas, many in this centuries-old fishing town say they will ride it out at home, or in the mangroves they have trusted for generations.

Bar owner Demario Laing said the relocation notice came too suddenly.

"It's not really organised and them something deh should have been in place a long time ago," he told THE WEEKEND STAR. "Now they want to rush everything, so nothing nah go perfect."

Laing said his biggest worry is the condition of the only access road which was torn up weeks ago for sewage works and is now constantly water-logged from the October rains.

"The soil itself a tek time fi come back the way it was. The only main concern is out at the lighthouse and that's always an issue," he shared. That same stretch of road, locals confirmed, often becomes blocked by seawater whenever there is heavy rainfall or storm surges. Laing opined that the new boulders placed along the road will do little to help.

"The water will come over anyway, and the stone dem might come over as well," he said. Despite repeated warnings, Laing and his family have no plans to move to the shelter at the National Arena.

"First thing first, if me did a relocate, me wouldn't go there so. Me woulda book a hotel room before that. Arena shelter or school shelter just doesn't make any sense," he said. "The more people talk about it will drive fear, because fear is normal. But other than that, I have no issue to weather the storm and see how it stay."

Last year's Hurricane Beryl, he recalled, nearly washed away the sand barriers.

"We find it very interesting," he said with a laugh. "We know when it's serious and when it's not, in fact, a lot of us enjoy the hurricane."

Down the lane near his beachside bar, a short walk from the original Gloria's restaurant, a whiteboard still marks how the water level reached during Beryl's passage. Yet the locals gathered at a nearby shop were equally unmoved by evacuation orders.

"We not relocating. Every time we relocate, them thief the people dem things," one man said. "Nobody to protect you. Protect yourself protect yuh yard."

"When other people leave them house in Kingston, at least them have grille fi lock up. We no have that yah so. People may just come and capture. Them have alarm, so them well safe," he added. Others were nonchalant, citing the community's geography.

"We have no fear for hurricane. This is Port Royal. It done sink already, and anything under the earth hold up the earth," one said. For these residents, preparedness means having food and staying calm.

"When the tide get high, the water run straight cross and go back to the sea. By time the hurricane done, the only thing leave is rain water," one person said. Fishermen scaled fish beside boats already tied down for the storm. Veteran fisher Bobby brushed off concerns about the approaching weather system.

"We already deh pan a ship, and dah ship yah can manage any amount a water," Bobby said. "This ship is a submarine, can dip up all 1,000 gallon a water and flush it off back. And this yah ship yah cya sink."

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie appealed directly to the Port Royal community to comply with evacuation instructions if conditions worsen. But Member of Parliament for Kingston Eastern and Port Royal, Phillip Paulwell, shares residents' unease about the Arena shelter's distance and conditions.

Still, many locals insist that Port Royal's mangroves, nature's own sea wall, offer the best protection.

"Most of Port Royal [residents] work on yachts, so we know how fi manage it," one person reasoned.