Mark Wignall | When tears are not enough

I can best express my pain by using the first words that come to me. And of course, it’s all about the destruction left behind by the passage of the monster hurricane, Melissa. The first words, quite simple ones are, “It pains me and breaks my heart.”

A friend of mine, an immigration lawyer living and working in the state of Florida, wrote me after the passage of that most frightening storm.

“I hope you and yours are safe. Mark, I have seen videos and photos of the destruction Melissa had caused to Jamaica and the west end of Jamaica. I have no words. I cannot work out who can survive in 180mph winds. And then we know what must come. The death toll. I cannot look at videos and photos anymore. My eyes fill with tears. My country has had its back shattered. All I can do is try to help, And help I will. This is a horrific historical event.”

With the Government having gained the respect of many of the most important people in the international community, those with power, influence, and the ability to get others of note to loosen their purse strings, assistance is on the way.

But even if someone not named Andrew Holness was the PM, the fact is, real people in the western belt of the country and as far east as sections of St Ann and spots in the Kingston Metropolitan Area are in pain right now. Melissa launched a violent attack on them, divested them of their worldly possessions, and left them with only a wet garment on their back.

Those affected, especially in the breadbasket parish of farming, St Elizabeth, must deal with the presence of two painful realities, one making the other worse in the agony felt. The first reality is the lack of an income. The second reality is being unhoused for the moment. I expect the Government to cash in its political chip and go heavy on supporting that community, which voted for the JLP recently, in terms of planting material, fertiliser and pesticides.

I ought to apologise for making mention of the word political at this most crucial of times. And then some of the videos shown open us up to being seen as uncivilized. One video was of a man deep in despondency while seated on a sheet of zinc, and others were of looters depleting the stock of shops, stores, and supermarkets.

Social scientists have tried to understand what causes people to loot in the face of disasters. Poverty? The loss of social order in one’s life?

The poverty argument does not hold water. Many years ago, while I was travelling from Southfield in St Elizabeth, I came upon an accident on the Spur Tree hill. A large supply truck was overturned at that infamous hairpin corner, and hundreds of pounds of food and grocery items were strewn all over.

The truck, resting on one side, was off the road. I was embarrassed to see ‘uptownish’ people leave their cars to loot some of the exposed supplies. Poverty? No. I would not be surprised if some of those St Elizabeth looters attend church on Sundays while reaching out for God to rescue them from too many temptations. And to protect them from yielding to more than one. I am sickened by such people, especially when they are judged by their peers and the answer is, ‘No, sir! He would never do that’.

HURRICANE-PROOF HOUSE?

A hurricane-proof house has been the chant since Hurricane Gilbert ravaged Jamaica in September of 1988. After the battering (at all times the eyewall was over Jamaica) I saw more than a few concrete structures blown down. They were built by ambitious poor people who could not afford the correct number of steel bars in the concrete.

Apart from that, in the house where Gilbert caught me trapped, at many times I felt the concrete wall with bars securely tied to crucial spots rumbling. At that time, Gilbert was at Category 3. I can only imagine what winds consistently at 185 miles per hour would feel like. With the winds howling and whistling and looking up after the terror of that creaaak and hearing and seeing one’s roof take off.

Up until that time, hurricane straps were not a real feature in roof construction in Jamaica. Hurricane Charlie in 1951 was something that men in construction only heard about. In addition, the building of a roof involved pushing pieces of two-by-six lumber in concrete uprights. And of course, there is that certain optimum angle that roofs must be to handle strong winds.

With all of that, if you have the best put-together roof that is not slab, meeting all the best standards of roof construction, can you make a bet that that roof will stand up to 185mph winds constantly howling and being there as a wickedly long nightmare from morning to night? Something is bound to give, and it is likely the roof. Of course, this needs to be well researched.

A reader wrote: “Why is everything that happens to Jamaica or Jamaicans so intense? We shatter world records in athletics with intensity. We slaughter each other with an evil intensity. We suffer mother nature severely.”

Soon, we must all step up and provide the easiest route of assistance to our dear brothers and sisters who have been affected; loosen up our pockets. I can remember after the passage of Gilbert in 1988, PM Eddie Seaga said that flying overhead reminded him of Hiroshima after a nuclear bomb was dropped on it in 1945.

Videos of Holland Bamboo and Middle Quarters in St Elizabeth and environs are a revisit of that view of destruction. Apart from international assistance and the fact that some large establishments will be due for building damage insurance, including flood and looting, Government and the most involved of our private-sector bosses must partner to bring back our people. It has to start as soon as the first nail is identified. They don’t want welfare. Just a push start.

But it has to be right away.

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.