"Sitting outside her house in muddy slippers amid the ruins left by category 5 Hurricane Melissa that ravaged parts of Jamaica last week, Narva Maxwell Taylor recounted how she and her family had to fight for their lives when the storm sent flood waters surging through their home. We have to give God thanks we are alive. We could be dead. But everything is gone. I don't have anything left now, Taylor, a resident of Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, said."
"Like almost every home in her neighbourhood, Taylor's house is in shambles, with thick silt paving the floors, and bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms transformed into dank and muddy jumbles of ruined precious belonging and debris. On the pavement outside beds, mattresses, sofas, clothes, appliances and more debris are piled in soggy heaps, and a pungent, musty odour pervades the entire community."
"Taylor said she is in desperate need of a suitable shelter and a steady supply of clean water and food. She is yet to receive one of the care packages with food and other basic essentials that the Jamaica government has started distributing to the worst affected communities, she said, and is frustrated with the delay."
Hurricane Melissa, a category 5 storm, ravaged parts of Jamaica and left Catherine Hall flooded and in ruins. A resident sat outside her home in muddy slippers, grateful to be alive but having lost all possessions when flood waters surged through the house. Floors are coated with thick silt and rooms transformed into dank, muddy jumbles of ruined belongings and debris. Beds, mattresses and appliances were piled on pavements and a pungent, musty odour pervaded the area. Urgent needs include shelter, clean water and food, and some residents report delays receiving care packages. Emergency food assistance centres were set up by Operation Blessing and World Central Kitchen, but relief efforts face overwhelming demand.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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