Sea takes animals and animal pen

A family of Brownstown, Georgetown, watched as the sea swept away their animals and the animal pen. Ketura Guy, who lives on the waterfront with other family members told SEARCHLIGHT they fled from the waves which, for the first time she can remember, reached their home.

Kentura Guy, Ras Bo’s Girlfriend

“Water came in,” she said, while her boyfriend, “Ras Bo” Charles, told SEARCHLIGHT that five of his animals (sheep and goats) and his goat pen were swept out to sea.

“The sea water came into the road, past the road and go over. This is the first time the water ever move us. The water come up real hard with power…it was powerful, the power-fullest one we ever go through, this one was serious,” Charles related.

He said he needs help to rebuild his animal pen, but the ideal thing is for them to be relocated as he is certain the sea water will attack them again.

Gillian Charles, Ras Bo’s sister

Gillian Charles, Ras Bo’s sister, said she has lived on the beach front in Brownstown since she was young; she is now 53.

“This is the first time the water ever reach so far. I had a barrel with wares but it wash away,” said the woman who sought shelter at the Georgetown Secondary School.

“Everything wet up, the last hurricane, water never reach up like that. I want a piece of land to move from here.”

An aerial view of where the sea defence in Brownstown Georgetown helped to minimise the damage to
properties

Others had similar stories of trauma and loss. Annmarie Ashton of Golden Vale said she thought her house was sturdy and her roof well built, so when hurricane force winds associated with Hurricane Beryl tore off her roof and shook her house, Ashton was shocked and traumatized.

“Seven of us were in the house and I did not expect that because I consider my roof solid,” the woman told SEARCHLIGHT, while sitting on a chair at the Calliaqua Anglican School on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, where she was forced to take shelter.

Ashton said she was frying fish when she heard a relative say the bedroom roof was “raising off”.

“…and then they said a neighbour roof was off, and then our porch roof lifted off and took the living room and then the bathroom roof…I start to tremble because the house started to crack and nobody would believe a wall house could dance,” a visibly shaken Ashton told SEARCHLIGHT.

She added that after the destruction of her roof, a neighbour’s house “went like powder, just burst open, a board house.”

Ashton said at that point, her brother noticed that the rafters on her house were about to lift off and he grabbed it and held it down.

“…and we use an extension cord and lacing wire and tied down the rafters, and used strong man rope to tie down…but we left because of the cracks and came to Calliaqua.

“We secured the contents and left them, then we boarded up the house, but we are scared we would be burglarized,” she said.

“Nobody know the pain I’m going through, because I never went through anything like this.”

A male resident of Glen who took refuge at the Calliaqua emergency shelter, said around noon his roof started to shake and was eventually ripped off by the wind.

“I went by my uncle and we move out and came here, about five of us. The children were terrified so I secured them and moved out and secured the contents of the house,” he explained.

He said they were being treated well at the shelter and were told that they would get assistance from the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) to rebuild.

“This is the first time experiencing this. The winds were wicked. Trees and other houses were damaged, about 20 houses in my area,” he said.

A woman at the shelter said that while she is grateful for the housing at the facility, there was no water at the shelter on Tuesday; no water tanks were in place.

On the leeward side of the country, at the Barrouallie Government School emergency shelter, Carlos “Long time days” Lee of Spring Village/Barrouallie told SEARCHLIGHT he and his family fled his home as, “me nah dey pretty because the building we was in is not 100 percent”.

He said they moved before Beryl struck on Monday as his girlfriend was frightened about remaining at their home.

“This is the first time I experienced weather like this. I experience weather before, but never moved, but this one here really threatening,” he said.

“We talk everything and make a fun, but this one was serious. We have to take a stock of we life.”

Dexter “Milo” Wilson, another man at the shelter said he was from Reversion, Barrouallie and left his home as it is prone to rock fall during weather like what was experienced on Monday.

“A lot of waters come down, so I not sure about the stones, so I moved as I does be frighten when storm passing,” he told SEARCHLIGHT.

“It was frightening, especially when the breeze start blow, and we looked at a house roof lift off and watching galvanize flying, and trees shaking ..that was real frightening…so I glad we survive and here still,” said Wilson.