Donnette Andrews clutched her four children in her arms and begged God to save their lives as sheets of galvanise blew off the roof of her home. She was one of 16 residents whose homes were damaged during a freak storm in the Claxton Bay area on Thursday night. Several trees fell and ripping apart electrical lines. Andrews, who lives with her sister Paterna Harewood at Diamond Village, said she ran under a bed when the winds hit. Recalling the incident, Andrews said she was out in the yard with her children Jayden and Jason, aged four (twins), Donetta two, and five-month old Shellyann, when she saw her neighbour's roof flying in the wind.
"I run inside because I didn't know what to do," she said. "The children were bawling and I just shoved them under the bed and held on to them...That was when our own roof flew off." Meanwhile, Harewood and her children— Scarlet, aged two, and Sharlotte, 10 months, were also hiding upstairs with their father Ricki Badree. Harewood said: "It was frightening for all of us. We didn't know what to do. We had to keep the children calm." When the winds stopped, the family went to the Mt Morbott Spiritual Baptist Church to seek refuge. At the nearby Valley Road, at least six more houses were damaged as a result of strong winds.
Daren Simon said he and his family were forced to run through bushes to get to a neighbour's home after his roof blew off. Within hours, an emergency team arrived in the area. Officers from the Emergency Operations Unit of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation visited the area and distributed tarpaulins and rope for the distressed families. Co-ordinator Anil Baboolal, who was assisted by Ravi Ramdial and Goordial Ramsaroop, said more than 16 houses were damaged. Several good Samaritans from nearby villages assisted the residents to secure their valuables. Simon said all the appliances and furniture were destroyed.
"It hard for us to lose everything," he said. "Right now I trying to help myself. I hope too that the Government could come and give us some assistance." Despite the weather, the residents worked together as they tried to nail back sheets of galvanise and place tarpaulins over their roofs. As he nailed on galvanise sheets in his neighbour's home, Junior Simmons, who also lost his house, called on MP Errol McLeod to visit the area. "We vote for him and now we want him to work for us...We need more help here," Simmons said. McLeod could not be reached for comment on his cellular phone yesterday.