Gratitude, concern in emergency shelters

As Hurricane Beryl lashed Jamaica with life-threatening winds and heavy rainfall on Wednesday, several people sought shelter in facilities across the Corporate Area.

At a temporary shelter on Church Street for the homeless, the majority of persons in the facility laid sleeping on the cots provided when The Gleaner visited there late Wednesday afternoon.

“Everybody a sleep … . A long time nobody nuh get this type a rest,” Dwight Lindsay, one of the homeless persons who sought shelter, commented.

The 50-year-old, who has been homeless for more than 12 years, said he was grateful that shelter was provided for them to weather the storm.

“A good ting dem do still ‘cause mi deh pon di street fi a period a time and mi get accustomed to the sunshine and likkle rainfall, but this excessive rain and flooding, mi couldn’t manage,” he told The Gleaner.

Twenty-seven-year-old Anthony Thompson, who has been homeless for almost 10 years, said he always takes advantage of whatever help is offered by the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation for the homeless.

Peeping through a window at the water flooding the street outside, Thompson said he was happy he decided to seek shelter.

“Is a friend tell mi ‘bout it, and mi come in,” he said.

The shelter manager, who did not want her name published, told The Gleaner that about 46 persons were in the shelter. She expectated more people to turn up as the evening progressed.

The manager noted that the shelter was adequately stocked with food, water, toiletries, and emergency lights to make their temporary stay comfortable.

At another shelter at the Clan Carthy High School, 75-year-old Jean Young was finding camaraderie among the six other people who turned up at the facility.

“Two other people were here before I got here and as soon as I came in, I said, ‘Hello’, and they ask mi if I am from this area. It’s been a pleasant experience,” she said.

She said that she was visiting Kingston from her home in Westmoreland and was staying alone at a friend’s home in Harbour View, St Andrew.

She told The Gleaner that she was advised to leave the house as the area was prone to flooding. She, too, was happy she made the decision to leave.

“I don’t know if it’s because of the grey hair, but dem treat mi so good in here. All of them ... . I can’t find any fault,” she said.

Two other senior citizens were among the group.

AIMING FOR A PLEASANT STAY

Donat Booth, the shelter manager, told The Gleaner that he has been aiming to ensure that each person’s stay is pleasant.

“After registering them, I met with [the disaster coordinator} and they gave me supplies – blankets, beds, some toiletries, some cleaning agents. I’ve secured them and I’ve been here monitoring their progress. I ensure that they are not in need of any medication and I’ve created a list of their next of kin, just in case,” he said.

Charmaine Magnus, the shelter manager at Kingston Technical High School, was trying her best to provide comfortable accommodation to the 15 people who sought shelter there, but was hampered by limited resources.

“We were given 10 cots, 10 blankets, a bottle of soap, a bottle of bleach, and that’s just about it,” she said. “I am hoping that I don’t get any more [people] ‘cause nobody nah go have no food and water,” she told The Gleaner.

Magnus said that she has worked as shelter manager through various storms for the last 15 years, and the lack of adequate resources is always an issue.

“It’s not just today that it has been happening. It’s been happening over the years. Sometimes we do without cots, [sometimes we get] nothing at all,” she said.

Chelsea Graham’s house at Law Lane in downtown Kingston been damaged by previous hurricanes and earthquakes, so she and her family decided to seek shelter elsewhere.

Noting that staying at the high school was “not 100 per cent”, she said that it was still safer than her home.

“The breeze a blow though the windows; they cannot close. We get some fine dew water come through dem, and dat area as well,” she said pointing, “the water blow. The facility is not a hundred per cent, but we are not at threat of losing lives or anything.”

While acknowledging that there was some resource constraints at some shelters, disaster coordinator for Kingston and St Andrew, Terry Forrester, told The Gleaner that up to late Wednesday evening, the coordinators were organising their response teams to act when the storm calmed.

She noted that more than 300 people, including some who were evacuated from flood-prone areas and others taken off the street, received safe dwelling in the 37 shelters.

“For the most part, people are safe and that was the real purpose of the shelters for persons to be able to shelter from the hurricane, so we have achieved that objective,” she said.

At mid-afternoon on Wedneday, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management stated that 488 people were in shelters across the island amid the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

But while shelters were opened in downtown Kingston to accommodate the homeless, a Gleaner team counted at least a dozen streetpeople braving the elements outside.

Ahead of the intense winds and showers, several were seen sitting on the sidewalk near the Supreme Court on King Street. Other homeless persons were seen loitering on King Street.

Asked why they were not seking refuge in the shelters, many of the homeless persons complained about the sanitary conditions at the old Church Street Arcade where many were housed.

However, Mayor of Kingston Andrew Swaby expressed surprise that they chose to stay on the street.

Swaby said the Kingston and St Andrew Municipality Corporation received 150 cots for the homeless and utilised 50 up to midday yesterday. He said the police and poor relief officers provided support to the KSAMC as they encouraged homeless persons to make use of the shelters.

He said the homeless persons are familiar with the poor relief officers who carry out feeding programmes at least three times a week.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com