WINSTON SILL/Freelance Photographer - Fierce winds and heavy showers from Hurricane Ivan tore the roof off this house, forcing residents of Board Villa in Denham Town, west Kingston, to flee the house during the hurricane and later drag furniture into their yards to dry in the sun.
THERE WAS a big smile on Tootsie Virgo's face on Sunday.
For her, Hurricane Ivan showed that she was right all along in depending on God to save her and her husband from the devastating effects of the hurricane.
"You see, mi did tell you," she said, when a Gleaner team revisted Board Villa in Denham Town, west Kingston yesterday. "Mi have mi kerosene oil but mi nevah did no special preparation and you see, everything is okay. In fact, the storm do a good thing fi mi by cutting off some of the tree branch dem so mi can get little more light. I bet you say you never meet a woman who have faith like me," she said, gesturing to the intact board house in which she lived with her 70-year-old husband, Milton Virgo.
Just a few days before, The Gleaner had spoken with Board Villa residents, who said they had made no special preparations.
Many had said they were hoping to be saved by God. In fact, Milton Virgo had clutched a Bible as both said they were depending on God to not only protect their house but prevent the hurricane from hitting Jamaica.
HE SAID YES
"Mi call pan Jesus and mi call him two times and him say yes," he related yesterday.
But several of their neighbours, who also live in mostly board and zinc houses, were not so lucky.
Although Hurricane Ivan eventually veered away from Jamaica, without the eye making landfall, some residents of Board Villa lost the roofs on their houses and at least two houses collapsed in the wake of constant battering by fierce winds while heavy rain soaked furniture and other items. Some residents said they sought shelter at the nearby Denham Town Community Centre but received a second drenching when the centre lost its roof.
Clean-up activities, including roof replacement and repair, got under way yesterday.