Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

Grace Eldemire points to the empty space that was her roof after it was blown off by winds from Hurricane Dean. Eldemire, who is a resident of the Westport Housing scheme, is now picking up the pieces of her life. - Photo by Mark Beckford

Like crumpled paper, zinc from rooftops of the Westport Housing Scheme in Portmore lay in the centre of the development, testament to the furious winds of Hurricane Dean.

Residents on Wednesday recounted the shock and terror they endured, during the hurricane which ripped roofs off several houses, and told The Gleaner that they were trying to move on with their lives.

Grace-Ann Eldemire is one such resident now piecing her life together after Hurricane Dean tore her rooftop to shreds. Eldemire, who was drying some of her belongings in her now open-top living room when The Gleaner visited the community, recounted her experience.

"It was about four-ish (p.m.) and I was in the back room and my daughter kept saying 'mommy, the roof lifting off', and when I came around I saw the roof lifting and the centre kept rising like when you bake something."

Eldemire said she packed some things and, when she finally rushed through the doors, her roof said 'bye bye' to her and flew into the stormy sky.

Thankful

She is now trying to get things back in order and is thankful for life. "I'm not worrying about the furniture, because I have life."

Another resident, Alicia Smith, said she intends to move out of the scheme because of the quality of the roofing, and she does not want to go through the same experience again.

"I fell asleep shortly before it came and, between 4 o'clock and 5 o'clock, I hear something on the roof like a board break," she said. "I started panicking and crying. I was on the phone with my husband and he told me to pack some things - breeze started to get stronger and the roof started to go and I ran into the back room and started to cry out for help and a neighbour heard me and helped."

She was able to save some of her appliances. however, her furniture was not spared by the rains.

Community spirit, however, shone through for the residents who spoke to The Gleaner, as their neighbours had either come to their rescue or given them somewhere to spend for the night.

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com