Mother makes wise decision to move before storm
Great Bay — As a direct result of hurricane Irma which has devastated this 37 square mile island, many of its citizens will have a story to tell, some more compelling than the other. Michjel Jeune is just one of those persons.
By Milton Pieters
Jeune, a mother of two daughters who resides in one of the upstairs apartments located on Sea Island Cotton Drive, Cole Bay, had her first line of defense broken down when she asked her landlord to install hurricane shutters. As far as she was concerned, it was the right thing to do.
“He said he did not have the money to do so and because of the power Irma was coming with, I decided to move with my children to my boyfriend’s house a short distance away,” she said. Her temporary place of abode for the evening turned out to be a safe one and her motherly instincts kicked in automatically during Irma’s devastating wrath as strong winds in excess of 175mph sent trees toppling, roofs sailing and turning vehicles over.
Just like everyone else she too was happy for the strong winds to subside along with the first sign of sunlight. But by that stage damage was already done, history had actually repeated itself, the only difference was the magnitude of this one compared to Luis. According to Jeune first on her agenda was to visit her home when it was safe to do so. But she was not prepared for the sight she was greeted with on her trip to her house.
“Half of the porch was gone, the entire place was flooded, and everything I owned was wet. I tried to salvage some stuff by putting it in the sun to dry, now I know that is not going to work out for us,” she said while fighting to hold back her emotions. Jeune, who is employed at Motorworld said she will have to start all over again beginning with a search for a new apartment, furnishing it and getting clothing for her kids and herself.
However as a parent her decision making process will not be easy now because apart from her personal losses, she has one sick daughter to care for and one who is oblivious of the current situation. “I am thinking about sending them back home to Guyana because my eldest daughter has Eczema and her entire skin is breaking out, right now I am confused. But we are still thankful to have life and I am happy I decided not to remain there because what I know for sure I would have panicked and run outside with them and get killed or seriously injured. My sister also lost everything and she is also thinking about going back home.”
Irma’s passage across the island was a work of nature, but Jeune is disappointed with the manner in which her landlord acted before and after. “I called him and told him about the damages, he was not very comforting in his response then my credit ran out and he did not even try to call me back.”
However Jeune is not alone in the recovery effort, she will be among the several hundreds that also has to start from scratch and that process will take much more than courage. She must first have to have faith in the system and pray that everything works out the way she would like it to.
Photo caption: Michjel Jeune, a Motorworld employee and mother of two who lost her apartment during the passing of Hurricane Irma. Photo by Milton Pieters.
