Lightning tragedies haunt St Bess district - Dozens of livestock killed over years; warning to run from rain too late for shock victims

Hopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer

Ricardo Fisher and Sheldon Caine were jolted by the warning of homeowner Patsy Fletcher to dart from under a pear tree as torrential rain poured down on Wednesday afternoon.

But their fleet-footed escape from looming danger was cut short by a lightning bolt that struck them both dead as they tried to dash to safety in Keynsham, St Elizabeth.

Fletcher’s shrill cry to Fisher, 14, and Caine, 30, was an omen of tragedy she and others had seen unfold before in the rural farming district. Residents told The Gleaner that they have been living in fear for years, with dozens of cows and goats falling victim to lightning strikes.

Garfield Saunders said that Keynsham has always been at the mercy of dangerous lightning strikes during heavy rainfall.

“Mi son, you would not want rain fi ketch u up here Sunday because yu woulda fraid,” the elderly resident told The Gleaner.

“Wi cah get fi raise no animal up yah because the lightning always a strike dem to death, an every day it rain, lightning strike something. Even wi appliance dem inna wi house lightning a mash up even when them turn off.”

The erection of several lightning rods has not mitigated their vulnerability, residents said.

Fletcher said she was heartbroken at the thought that Caine and Fisher died in her yard seeking to purchase pears.

Her son, Newton Ennis, was the only survivor from the pear-picking expedition.

He is still haunted by the images of Caine and Fisher’s scorched bodies, telltale signs of the power of the electrical discharge that fell from the heavens.

Ennis, too, had heard Fletcher’s warning but did not move in time. He theorises that he survived because he was wearing water boots.

“Mi hear di thunder roll, and mi never even have time fi see when the lightning flash,” the 43-year-old told The Gleaner. “Di only ting mi know seh is dat mi hear a loud bang, an mi feel the current inna mi body and it pitch mi over pon mi face.”

Fisher and Caine, a farmer of Mineral Heights, Clarendon, died on impact.

The lightning bolt also scorched a yam and banana field and also damaged a concrete water tank in the yard. The incident occurred around 1:45 p.m.

Marvell Powell broke down and wept over the tragic death of her only great-grandson, a Mile Gully High student. The 14-year-old lived with his mother in Mandeville, Manchester, but had been staying with Powell,with school being out because of coronavirus restrictions.

“Mi cah believe seh lightning tek weh mi one gran’ boy. Mi cah come to mi sense up to now,” Powell cried.

The octagenarian, who moves around with a cane, said that Ricardo was the best great-grandson anyone could ask for.

“A yah so him born an a mi raise him. Him loving, kind, and is a very good athlete who always a win medal a him school,” she said.