Bull Savannah residents bond to recover from disaster

Residents of Bull Savannah in St Elizabeth have rallied together to fast-track their recovery from the powerful Category 4 Hurricane Beryl, which uprooted their lives last Wednesday.

On Friday, Edwin Powell was busy repairing his neighbour’s roof which the strong winds from the hurricane blew off. As he hammered away, the community tradesman told The Gleaner that he takes pride in being able to assist those around him.

“Yuh affi help people ‘cause yuh one can’t live fi yuhself. Yuh don’t know di day when yuh [might] run to one person and seh, ‘Mi want help’,” he said.

He shared he has been repairing roofs since Thursday, the day after Hurricane Beryl passed along the island’s south coast, battering his southern parish.

“Mi do two [Thursday] and mi do two since morning inna di rain and mi have two more fi go [Saturday], and mi a do one ya now … . What can I do? Mi haffi help out people,” he said.

This included helping other community members to secure their property in anticipation of the storm by battening down windows and reinforcing their roofs.

This degree of selflessness is a trait his neighbour, Raymond Johnson, said he admires and appreciates.

“A good yute. A help him a help mi out ‘cause mi nuh have no money fi pay him, but mi can give him a drink likkle more … . Everybody ‘bout ya help one another,” he said.

The camaraderie among community members was also crucial during the passage of the storm, the 74-year-old said, as he had to run to a neighbour’s house when the winds took the zinc roof off his four-bedroom dwelling.

“This ya hurricane ya, a di fist mi ever see [like this] inna life, and a nuff mi see … . Mi go through nuff and neva see nothing like dis ya. It look like it stop dung underneath the bottom ya suh (south coast) and nuh move,” he said.

Having shielded his windows and reinforced his roof, Johnson said he did not think he would have to leave his house during the hurricane, but as the winds became relentless, he was left with no choice and sought shelter in a neighbour’s house.

Donavan Powell also spent the days after the hurricane repairing damaged roofs in his community.

“A storm suh wi haffi help each other,” he stated, adding that up to Friday, he had fixed three roofs, with more to do in the coming days.

“If wi nuh help each other, nobody nah go help wi,” the 52-year-old said.

One person who benefited from his help was his neighbour and uncle, Neville Powell, who had the roof of four of the five rooms in his house damaged in the storm.

The 63-year-old recalled his fright when his roof started lifting and water started entering his house.

“A pray mi a pray to Fada God fi it nuh finish tear off for mi nuh know weh mi woulda do,” he said. “It was rough. Mi nuh wah see nothing like dat again. From mi born, a di roughest sinting dat mi eva see, and mi nuh wah experience dat again inna mi life,” he told The Gleaner.

He has already spent more than $30,000 on materials to repair his home, an unexpected expense that is made worse because his two-acre farm, where he plants melons and scallion, has also been destroyed.

“Nothing nuh left inna di farm. Everything mash up. Nothing nuh left in deh. Mi nuh know how wi a go manage ‘cause wi nuh have nothing fi sell, nothing fi live offa,” he said.

Because of this, the farmer is grateful that he does not also have to pay workmen to fix his house.

“Him help mi good good; mi feel good,” he said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com