In the aftermath of the freak storm at Blenheim, Leguan, the residents have been able to repair the damage done to their homes, except for one senior.
The storm, which occurred on Sunday afternoon, damaged 13 homes, uprooted trees and caused a blackout in the community.
Mohandai (only name), 62, told Stabroek News yesterday that it would cost her close to $500,000 to put the house back in order and she is still trying to raise the money.
Her concrete house, which suffered the most damage, was hit around 2.45 pm and she was thankful that she was not at home at the time.
Mohandai’s entire roof was ripped off and flung onto the road, along with some of her windows, and sections of the concrete walls were also broken. Her light bulbs and even her mosquito nets went along with the roof on the road.
The rain also soaked her furniture as well as her fridge, television and fan and she was afraid that they may not be able to work again.
She recalled that she received a call from a neighbour, who informed her that her roof was on the road and although she did not believe, she went immediately to check.
When she got there and realised it was true, she broke down. Her sons, who live nearby, and neighbours helped to move the roof off the road and put it in her yard.
The woman, who lives alone, said she is sleeping at the home of her relatives and is hoping to start the repairs this week.
She said the situation has been hard for her. “I don’t have an income and I am a diabetic and I have high pressure.”
The roof on one side of Bibi Shaheeda Mohamed’s home was also badly damaged. The top of her outdoor bathroom and the zinc shed on the eastern side of her house were also blown off during the storm.
She has managed to repair the roof temporarily by mending the old zinc with the help of kind-hearted residents but she said it “still got crease and holes and we would get wet when the rain fall.”
Mohamed, a security guard, is asking for assistance to purchase new materials as her salary is very small and her husband barely earns as well. She lamented that “in my 56 years I never see anything like this. I was very scared.”
Her furniture and electrical appliances had gotten wet because they were exposed to the elements.
Another resident, Rovina Hayman, told this newspaper that a few of her zinc sheets were blown off from her roof. She said everything happened so fast and that she was still traumatised.
She recalled that she was outside with her husband and two sons and their friend when the “hard breeze” and the rain came suddenly. She and her husband went inside to safety but the boys remained outside and watched as trees were uprooted and a few zinc sheets were sent flying in the air and folding up as they landed.
Another resident recounted that the breeze came “light at first” and within a few seconds it got stronger and she was not prepared for what happened next.
She watched in fright and was “trembling” as zinc sheets from her neighbours’ house blew off and ended up in her yard.
She also noticed the stage and shed in the mandir compound crashing down and zinc sheets from the building flying off. According to her, a “circle breeze came and finished within four minutes.”
