THE FINAL FRONTIER

WESTERN BUREAU:

With full access to Cambridge by road now restored, the last frontier in the unprecedented destruction heaped on the people of St James is now fully exposed – the widespread devastation of homes, farms, schools, and critical infrastructure, accompanied by horrifying survival stories and the lingering fear that many residents might not have lived through Hurricane Melissa’s brutal assault.

With the eye of the Category 5 storm passing directly over Cambridge, the community absorbed the full force of winds exceeding 160 miles per hour. Board houses splintered instantly, and even sections of concrete buildings were left flattened.

Beverley Watson Barker said she could only watch helplessly as the wooden portion of her house was torn away. She told The Gleaner that she prayed as she never had before, terrified she would not survive.

“The breeze took everything, tearing them apart. If it wasn’t for the concrete part, I don’t believe I would be living right now,” said Watson Barker, who spent the entire ordeal pleading for God’s intervention. “Thank God I am living right now.”

She was one of many residents who said they were “scared to death” as they watched their community being destroyed in ways they never imagined possible.

Donald Beckford, who was last week putting on the roof to his small house that he rebuilt over the previous two weeks, said only a concrete bathroom – where he and three others took refuge – remained standing.

“Four of us were inside the concrete part, huddled under a piece of plastic. The entire wooden section was flattened,” said Beckford, recalling how the storm’s fury rocked the community. “The only thing we could do was pray, only could a pray.”

Another resident driven to prayer was Gavin Reid, who, recognising that Melissa was on track to hit Jamaica, left his home for the shelter at Cambridge High School. However, the school itself suffered extensive damage, losing a substantial portion of its roof.

“I never took Melissa lightly, so mi prepared a little stuff and head for the shelter over the school. Whole heap a damage done to the school. This girl, Melissa, she gwaan with a bag a things,” said Reid, who admitted fear pushed him to prayer.

“We affi run to Jesus Christ in prayer. Mi a one a dem. Mi youth dem neva deh round mi, so mi afffi a pray fi dem same way. Mi a pray fi myself and pray fi di community,” he told The Gleaner.

Reid said going to the shelter turned out to be the right call. When he returned home, he found his house under four feet of water, with sections destroyed, much like many of the wooden structures in the area known as Bottom Cambridge.

In the days immediately after Melissa passed, residents said they felt trapped. Flooded roads and massive damage prevented help from coming in and blocked them from getting out.

“It took a few days for any help to reach us. Our member of parliament (Nickeisha Burchell) managed to get one of the roads partially cleared so that she could bring in some care packages,” said retiree Robert Shirley, whose house was destroyed.

“My house was totally destroyed, wiped out,” said Shirley, who is now facing an uncertain future. “We got some help, but it is mostly food, nothing about rebuilding. I have seen our councillor, Kenroy Gordon; the member of parliament, who has been coming back and forth; and a team from the Social Development Commission came here yesterday.”

Shirley, who experienced Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, said that storm was “child’s play” compared to Melissa.

“I saw Gilbert, Ivan, Beryl – all of them – but this Melissa was so devastating that even the concrete house that I sheltered in was shaking, rocking like a tree,” said Shirley. “Up until now, I feel like I am in another world. I still can’t believe we got out of it alive.”

With the main road now reopened, residents say they finally feel reachable again, though many still face enormous challenges ahead. Some believe it will take a decade to restore Cambridge.

“I am disappointed with the lack of support as it relates to aid coming from the Government, but we have to give thanks to people like Nickeisha and Shelly- Ann Fraser-Pryce, who came to our assistance,” said Watson Barker. “Nickeisha passed her first test as member of parliament with flying colours, and Shelly-Ann – oh my! – she is the one who came here and give the people beds, mattresses and all kind of things and she says she is going to come back with more help. Shelly-Ann, anywhere yu deh, Cambridge love you, you are a God-blessed woman.”

Numerous vehicles remain trapped in yards where driveways have washed away or been buried under piles of debris.

“Mi glad we nuh block inna de community again, but as you can see, many of us are still blocked up in our yards and some yards are still flooded and a three week since Melissa pass,” a young man told The Gleaner. “I can’t see a future in Cambridge, so right now, I am making plans to lif up and leave.”

Yet for others, like Haley Noad – Watson Barker’s granddaughter and a hospitality student – the commitment to rebuilding remains strong despite carrying the memories of the most terrifying experience of her life.

“When I saw what it was doing to the houses, ripping them up, I began praying, asking God to please let it go away,” said Noad. “I would never like to see something like this again. Too much people lose a lot of stuff, so it is going to be hard to come back from this. It was mostly board houses and most of them gone, but I know that with God’s help, Cambridge will rise again.”

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com