Firemen battle a blaze that engulfed a home at 18a Slipe Pen Road

IF THE battering of the wind and rain was not enough, a fire was totally unbearable.

Twenty-six-year-old Cammoy Robinson, of 18a Slipe Road, had only just emerged from the cover of darkness when, 10 minutes later, a fire engulfed the already storm-battered house, which was soaked from leaking roofs.

"Mi no know wah happen; before, the whola in deh did a leak," she told The Gleaner. Without a shoe on her foot, she stood on the concrete, still soaked with water, and held her one-year-old daughter in hand.

Nearby, her younger sister sat on the ground crying.

Two families, totalling five adults and three children, have been left homeless with the showers resulting from Hurricane Dean still affecting the island.

A resident of the community who stared helplessly as the firemen fought the blaze simply exclaimed: "Dis a more than disaster, dis a destruction."

Barrage of gunshots

The situation was just as grim for senior citizen, Jennis Dawkins, of Haribin Lane in Grants Pen, St. Andrew.

As tears welled up in her eyes, she recounted that a tree had fallen on her house and rescuers from the fire brigade came to her assistance but later fled because of a barrage of gunshots. She said she was forced to sleep in an abandoned building, but now has nowhere to go.

"Me can't even go inna mi house, me affi jus stan up pan the road," she said.

While most damage was evident in downtown Kingston, a family living in Constant Spring Grove never feared better. After only moving into their 10-bedroom house only six weeks ago, they are now counting their losses. A roof that was said to be fixed for more than $1 million less than a year ago blew off, leaving most of their belongings in pools of water.

Motorists along Constant Spring Road negotiate past downed power lines on Sunday. - Photos by Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer