Pregnant and homeless
Expectant mother faces due date in cramped minivan amid devastation in Westmoreland
Published:Friday | November 14, 2025 | 12:09 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Nine months’ pregnant and rendered homeless by Hurricane Melissa, Crystal Morris is awaiting the birth of her child while living in cramped conditions inside an immobile minivan with her family.
The monster storm that ravaged Jamaica’s western region tore through Morris’ New Works community in Westmoreland, completely flattening her wooden home.
On Wednesday, the expectant mother sat on a plastic chair outside her new home – a minivan that had been blown into place by the hurricane’s 185-mile-per-hour winds.
At the front of the van, overloaded with belongings salvaged from the rubble, Morris’ seven-year-old son sat quietly.
In the cargo area, her cousin laid across the floor with her feet dangling through the opening for the door.
In the distance, Morris’ mother spoke with another relative.
FEAR OF ENCROACHING
Rain was on the horizon, and the family would soon be holed up in the van, not wanting to encroach on their neighbour who accommodates them at nights.
The abandoned vehicle, the woman said, had been parked in the community for years. Blown to its location, she said her cousin heaved it upright and they packed what was left of their belongings into it.
“That’s how we put in our stove and other things. We sleep over there and we come over here in the day time and we stay. The bathroom blow down also, but we still bend down and bathe in it. We just sleep at the neighbour’s house. We don’t really use it as how we would use our house,” said Morris.
With her due date approaching on November 19, Morris told The Gleaner that the stress of her situation had become overwhelming.
She described her pregnancy as “rough”, often needing to lie down to ease her discomfort or pause daily activities to rest.
“My brain just twist up. Me a think ‘bout everything, how me a go carry me baby go people yard. So it just make me feel emotional and those things,” Morris said, her voice cracking and tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I’m very, very sad. It’s because of my mom that I just try to keep the strength. She always say I must not stress out the baby because the baby can born before time. I have her around me and my cousin who sit and talk to me,” the mother of two said.
Her daughter is staying with her father in Petersfield.
Her son has struggled to cope with the displacement, often breaking down at bedtime. He misses their home and the journey to the neighbour’s house has left him visibly distressed.
“Most nights when we go over we neighbour, him will cry and say him want to go him yard. So me haffi try and talk to him or mi mother talk to him when him a cry, and the pregnancy make me very emotional. So each time him start cry, me start cry, too,” said Morris.
Her mother has been a steady support for the family, who were unprepared for the storm’s intensity. Though aware of Hurricane Melissa’s approach on October 28, Morris initially dismissed the warnings as exaggerated.
When the Category 5 storm hit, the roof of their shared home was torn away and the structure was shredded. The family fled to a neighbour’s house for refuge.
“When my uncle side of the house start break away, it’s like the breeze come inna the house and it start lift up everything. We affi run out of the house. Me brother carry me son for me … . When me reach the garage, a the breeze push me in. Only God make me never lick up because me couldn’t stop myself because a barefoot. Me affi take off me slippers and run. So a just God alone.
“We lose everything. We’re homeless,” she said. “But I’m here and I’m still giving God thanks. I’m due the 19th of this month, so I’m still keeping my fingers crossed. I’m just asking for a little help. Who can help me out in any way you guys can, I would really appreciate it.”
This, she said, would add to support already coming in after her mother posted a video to social media sharing their plight.
The video also caught the attention of the Jamaica Defence Force, whose members visited on Monday.
“They said if I take ill and don’t have a vehicle at that time to call them and they will airlift me to Savanna-la-Mar Hospital. So that is good for me. I’m not really fretting about that part anymore,” she said.
“So I’m just hoping and praying to get a roof over our heads because most people, I’m not saying my neighbour is going to be upset about the baby in his ears at nights, but I have to think about the two sides. Me affi think say him a go be alright with it or probably him a go feel one way say the baby a cry, cry inna him ears. That’s what I’m thinking about right now.
“So if it’s even one room to build up for me and my mom and son to stay … . If I get it, I could put two beds in there. Me and my son and my mom could be in there because my cousins sleep in the van and my brother. So they can thug it out until things come together. So I would be so grateful for it, mostly because of the baby,” Morris said.