By Zoisa Fraser
Strong winds yesterday morning buffeted the East Coast community of Liliendaal, blowing off zinc sheets from roofs in a brief spell that saw lucky escapes for several residents including an 11-month-old girl.
The incident occurred around 11:30 am during a sudden downpour that swept over central Georgetown.
Yesterday when Stabroek News visited the area about 20 minutes after the wind had died down, residents were scampering to recover their zinc sheets which were lying in nearby yards. Some were assessing the damage and contemplating what they were going to do to secure their shelter by nightfall or before another shower hit the area.
Checks at the Botanical Gardens Meteorological Station by this newspaper revealed that officials there had no reports of strong winds on the coast.
The roofs on three houses in First Street and a fourth in Second Street were damaged, three of them seriously. There was also minor damage to the roof of the Ocean View Hotel Convention Centre located on the Rupert Craig Highway.
A huge signboard in the Sheriff Street area was lying face down when Stabroek News passed, apparently hit by the strong gusts.
Speaking to Stabroek News at her Lot 15 First Street home, a relieved Yvette Luke said that she was alone at home and was sewing in her living room around 11:30 am when there was a sudden heavy downpour. Her house sustained the brunt of the damage.
She said that she went to close the window in her bedroom in the eastern part of the house when she heard a sound similar to a kite singing in the wind.
“I just ran out and the zinc sheets started flying off,” she said, adding that she could not assess the damage at this point but knew it was substantial.
Luke said that her sewing machine and the three bedrooms were water soaked. Though she has called a carpenter to come and repair the roof, she said she is doubtful that she will be able to remain there for the night.
The woman who only moved into the house last year, said that the roof looked perfectly strong to her.
She said that when the ordeal which lasted a few minutes was over she was shocked upon looking outside and seeing her yard littered with twisted zinc sheets which had come from surrounding houses.
When Stabroek News arrived, Luke was cleaning up the broken glass from the windows in her bedroom. Everything in the eastern section of the house was soaked.
Luke told this newspaper that she is thankful that she escaped uninjured, pointing out that this is her first such experience.
Over at Lot 14 the damage was minimal. The four zinc sheets that were peeled off had already been retrieved and were in the yard ready to be nailed back onto the roof. The north eastern section of the house suffered the damage and except for a rain soaked carpet everything was alright.
Other accounts of the incident were consistent with what Luke had said. Shawn Thomas, another resident, told this newspaper that when the strong winds came he jokingly said that they should look at the television for breaking news. But just as he had said so, the zinc sheets on his roof flew off.
At Lot 17 persons congregated discussing the incident as several twisted zinc sheets lay in the yard and zinc nails were scattered on the ground.
Lucky escape
Donnette Sam, a resident of the upper flat of the building, told the media that her 11-month-old daughter Akilah O’Brian escaped serious injury from the shattered glass. At the time the infant was asleep in the front bedroom on the eastern half of the house. The zinc sheets on that section of the roof were ripped off by the strong winds.
Sam said that she went downstairs to get some water and realized that the breeze was very strong.
She said that she went back upstairs and turned off the main switch. She then heard a popping sound. On checking in the room where her daughter was, Sam said she discovered glass all around the child.
“She was sleeping and I pick her up and she wasn’t even responding… All I could have done was run under a table with her and start praying,” she said with the relief evident in her voice.
When Stabroek News saw the child, she was wide awake and there were several blood stains visible on the dress she was wearing.
Sam said that the freak storm has left her with close to a million dollars in damage as her new computer and television among other things have been damaged. She said also that water seeped into her sister’s apartment below.
“It lasted for about three to five minutes. It was a really strong breeze and I never experience anything like this before,” she said.
In Second Street, Lot 21 was the only house affected. The wind blew away the zinc sheets on Kissoon Govinda’s kitchen. When this newspaper visited him, five zinc sheets were in the house and the entire kitchen was soaked.
Govinda said that he will try his best to put them back on before nightfall.
Recalling the incident, he said that a strong breeze suddenly came and blew off the zinc sheets which landed in an uninhabited lot several hundred feet away.
The Ocean View Hotel managed to escape the vicious wind. Except for a few loose boards on the southern section of the roof on the hotel’s convention centre, everything was in place and there were no visible signs of serious damage.
But several huge plant pots at the front of the hotel’s lobby were knocked over during the incident.
Residents of Liliendaal yesterday told this newspaper that this is the first such incident that the community has faced in decades.
