Elderly farmer pleads for help to rebuild home destroyed by heavy rains

Rudy Campbell, from Castleton, St Mary, is living in a precarious condition.

Just over a week ago, heavy rains and winds from a freak storm uprooted a guinep tree that landed on his four-bedroom board house, completely destroying two rooms, and causing significant damage to the remaining two.

“The other two [rooms] dem are wrecked up. Mi a cook inna one, but it lean, too ... . [It] can turn over at any time, and di one weh mi kotch inna, ... it not nice neither because it wreck up to,” he said.

Ongoing rains have made his living situation even more deplorable, and the 78-year-old farmer is desperate for help to rebuild.

“Mi kotch inna it fi di present, and mi hoping dat God might help mi dat it nuh turn ova before mi can fix up another likkle better place fi go in,” he told The Gleaner.

Luckily, Campbell wasn’t home during the thunderstorm that destroyed his home of 20 years, but he said the realisation of the ruin was no less frightening.

“Mi really feel it, because it shocking,” he said. “It’s the Lord [who] is keeping me up, because if yuh put it pon yuh brain probably it a go cast yuh down,” he said.

He told The Gleaner that he receives a pension of $12,000 every two months, which is just enough to help him afford basic necessities. He said he lives in the house with his common-law wife Delmina Pusey and has two daughters, but lamented that they are not in a financial position to help him.

Campbell said he has received promises of assistance from his local church, as well as from St Mary South Eastern Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher Brown, but so far, none has been forthcoming.

“Mi thinking about it, and considering a way how mi could help miself fi come up back. Mi seh mi gwine pick up piece a di board dem weh nuh break up, and tack up, tack up back wah likkle room, but mi nuh have no two-by-four, because di one dem inna di building dem rotten out ... . Mi cya use dat,” he said.

Brown told The Gleaner, however, that it was residents from the community who made him aware of Campbell’s situation and that he is currently trying to rally assistance on his behalf.

“It was sad to have heard of the incident with Mr Campbell,” the MP said. “It is a very difficult situation that he is in. I am seeking to utilise all efforts at this time, based on the resources that can be organised and mobilised through the various agencies of the Government, to see what assistance can be brought to support him,” he said.

“Hopefully, in a short period of time we will be able to provide some assistance through those agencies and based on the allocation that I have as MP.”

A trough across Jamaica on October 3 pelted the island with heavy rainfall. The unstable weather continued for days, with the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, up to Sunday, issuing a flash flood warning for low-lying and flood-prone areas of several parishes. The warning remained in effect until yesterday morning.

A flash flood watch means that flash flooding is possible, and residents in vulnerable areas are advised to take precautionary measures, stay informed through official updates, and be prepared to act quickly if flooding is observed or if a flash flood warning is issued.

According to the Met Service, a trough currently across the western Caribbean is expected to linger over the region through Tuesday, bringing periods of showers and thunderstorms, heavy at times, along with strong gusty winds across most parishes, particularly in southern and northwestern areas.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com