Frustrated over flooding: woman suffers loss after flood

A trough system that passed through St Vincent and the Grenadines last week wrought havoc in Sandy Bay, leaving a huge number of persons in dire straits, among them, Janetta Hoyte-Collins and her family of five.

According to Janetta, when the rains started in the wee hours of the morning of Tuesday, November 29, she was alarmed by the intensity of the showers so she began monitoring the nearby river.{{more}}

She said looking at the river, she realized that it was growing fiercer by the minute and so decided that she was not staying in her home.

“I could not sleep, so I tell my husband that we have to move, but he did not want to go; he just lay back down and cover up. But when I watch, I see the water was coming into the house; then the current (electricity) went off and I got more scared,” recalled Janetta.

She said even when the water rose to their front door, her husband was still reluctant to leave the house.

Janetta said she used the dim light from her electronic tablet to monitor the water at her door and decided that she was not staying, even though her husband was intent on doing so.

She took her four children and went to her mother’s home and her husband joined them about half hour later.

“…me sister and she husband was watching the river, then she said we house gone and when I look out, all I saw was the space and then the children start crying,” said Janetta.

On Saturday, December 3, when SEARCHLIGHT spoke to the frustrated mother, she was housed at the Sandy Bay Government School emergency shelter with her children. She said that her husband had gone hunting for a house to rent, as they were promised some help from the Government.

“I feel real bad; I shed tears the morning after the thing happen. We can’t go back to build in that area, because it is not safe,” explained Janetta, who moved to the river bank spot in 2013 after floods that year.

She said that all her family’s worldly possessions were buried in the rubble or swept away by the river.

“I had just done some shopping; all the food stuff under there; all the baby clothes, children books, everything bury up and wash way. I really frustrated being here (in the shelter) because I accustom cook my own pot and here I have to wait on people and I don’t like that,” she lamented.

The upset mother’s story is not unique, as at the time SEARCHLIGHT visited, the Sandy Bay shelter held some 125 persons from 31 families. Eight of these families had their homes completely destroyed and were left with just the clothes on their backs. (LC)