Senior Gleaner Writer

Among the island's most vulnerable citizens are its women and children. In times of natural disasters such as hurricanes, their vulnerability increases, especiallly when they have no male protector in the home. The Gleaner spoke with a number of women who were among hundreds in shelters at the National Arena and the National Indoor Sports Centre in St. Andrew as the threat of Hurricane Ivan loomed.

FOR JENNIFER Reid, her son and niece, the Arena was preferable to being in her Cross Roads home under a roof that was likely to be blown away.

"My roof is not safe and I didn't want to take the chance with the children, so I packed up my belongings and came here," she said.

Like many other occupants of the shelter, Jennifer was hungry, having not heeded the advice of disaster preparedness officials to take something to eat with them.

Joan Robinson works on a coffee farm in the St. Andrew hills. When news of the impending hurricane broke, the farm was shut down and she descended the hills to her daughter with whom she 'kotched' on previous occasions. But conditions were not convenient this time around so she came straight to the shelter.

"I am originally from St. Mary and I had a house in Portmore, but unfortunately I lost it. I am comfortable here for now but I hope Ivan will spare us," she said.

One Greater Portmore resident, who wished to remain unidentified, said she was dying to go home. "This is not what I would have chosen for myself but the authorities said we should leave the Portmore community so I obeyed. I have relatives here in Kingston but I didn't want to stay with them."

INCONSIDERATE AND UNCOMFORTABLE

At five-and-a-half months pregnant, Annwas having a headache from inhaling the fumes from inconsiderate cigarette smokers. Looking very uncomfortable, she told The Gleaner, "I made the decision to leave home in Portmore because I am pregnant and I live alone. I want to go home or go somewhere else. I hope I have a home to go back to when this is over," she said.

One wheelchair-bound senior citizen was obviously upset that she had not eaten since arriving at the shelter mid-afternoon. At 7:45 p.m., she still had not received anything to eat, and being a diabetic, she was worried about the consequences of being hungry too long.

And another senior was on the verge of falling off the bench because she was falling asleep on the spot. Mattresses were in short supply and she did not get one. The news team appealed to the man who had one next to her but he insisted that he had received it first and, "me waan sleep pan bed to."

"I live alone in Gregory Park and I locked up everything and came here. If anything happens to my house and I'm safe, I'm all right," the elder citizen said.

Name withheld for protection.

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