‘Grace showed no mercy’
St Mary woman forced to hold baby in hand while scooping out water
ASt Mary woman said she was forced to hold her one-year-old granddaughter by her side while bailing out gallons of water from her house during the passage of Tropical Storm Grace on Tuesday.
Sharon Hunt, 54, likened the experience to a never-ending nightmare. She said that the ordeal began when a section of the zinc roofing on her two-storey board dwelling was ripped off by the menacing winds from the storm that made landfall in the parish. She said that the frightening ordeal lasted for more than 12 hours and almost gave her a massive panic attack.
“The light did gone from earlier in di day, so wi just deh deh a play around. When di zinc started to blow off she (the baby) scream out and say Mommy, Mommy di rain a come in’. And a from de suh mi have har pon mi hip and a bail out water every minute,” Hunt, a resident of NCB Lane in Annotto Bay, told THE STAR.
Hunt said that several electronic items such as her television and microwave as well as furniture were either damaged or destroyed.
She said that she rode out the storm inside the house, and only left in
the late afternoon when the showers subsided.
“I decided to stay in a shop along the path wid di baby until she start fi sleep, but as soon as mi go back inside, a di rain dat again,” she said.
The passage of Tropical Storm Grace was like déjà vu for Hunt who experienced similar agony in 2004 when Hurricane Ivan wreak havoc across the island.
“Ina Hurricane Ivan mi son (who is now 17 years old) was about three months. Di same thing happened and him ketch up a massive cold because everything inside get soak and mi never have nuh weh to go. While mi deh deh a bail out di water mi a pray fi di rain stop cause mi couldn’t tek fi go through the same thing again,” she said.
Although Jamaica escaped the full wrath of Tropical Storm Grace, the system left a canvas of catastrophe. The powerful winds it brought has also left another resident reeling having seen her corner shop, also located at NCB Lane, dismantled.
“Mi nuh know how mi a guh start back again! Look how things hard already – From di stress weh COVID a put wi tru – and now dis go happen. Mi nuh save nothing,” said Marsha, who estimated that it will cost her close to half million to get back on her feet.