By Ann Marie Albury
Seven weeks before her eightieth birthday, Inez Major a resident of Roses, Long Island, found herself seeking refuge in the last tiny portion of her home that was left standing. Her life was in grave peril as the brutal unforgiving winds of 130 miles per hour and gust winds even higher, whipped everything in its path and torrents of rain fell as avalanches of water from the category 4 hurricane, Joaquin, devastating the southerly islands of the Bahamas. The many residents of these islands found themselves helpless as they yielded to the fierceness and magnitude of the storm that was upon them.
Inez said they knew a storm was traveling, however, not one that was so big and strong. According to her, they got NO GOOD WARNING! No time to evacuate. She said on her radio, ZNS transmissions would come in for about 2 minutes and go right back off.
As the skies darkened with storm clouds and the winds began to rustle the trees around her home, she made the decision to hunker down right there in her house that was more than 100 years old. Those walls had protected our great grandmother, Lelia, grandmother, Theresa, grandaunt, Effie, granduncle and her in times past, weathering many, many other storms, the most recent being Noel in 2007.
The downfall of the rain intensified and the winds bellowed forcefully, prompting Inez to take refuge in the newer portion of her home, with her grandnephew, Edwin. A few years earlier, an addition was built onto the old homestead to house a kitchen and bathroom. She figured that this newer part would withstand the ravages of the storm. After a few hours of drenching rains and howling winds, crouched in a corner, Inez suddenly sprang to her feet scampering for safety as the newer section and the older homestead were ripped apart as if it were mere tissue paper, opening up to the iron-fisted forces of the storm. Shortly after they moved, the roof blew off and the new concrete walls crumbled down. Inez now huddled for refuge in a room of the older part of the house which was made of lime kiln.
Once again, but for a short while, they seemed to be safe, but Joaquin showed no mercy on this old home and its occupants. The constant downpour of rains saturated the lime kiln walls and they began to crack and crumble. A Strong bitter gust raised a portion of the roof causing the onslaught of the wind to rip the beams one by one just above where Inez and Edwin now rested, revealing the massive storm clouds hovering over them and the brightness of jagged bolts of lightening separating the sky transforming the darkness, but for a moment. Yet again Inez and Edwin had to run to another section of the house to find haven from the storm. This cat and mouse chase between the residents of this once historical quaint home and the unrelenting elements of Joaquin continued throughout the early morning hours as they were forced to relocate from one place to yet another, to find shelter as the forces of Joaquin tore apart the remaining portions of this old homestead bit by bit.
Eventually, the place that Inez had known as home for her entire life had crumbled under the tempestuous forces of nature, wild and untamed. Nevertheless, the storm was not over. Stripped naked of all protecting cover, this seventy-nine year old woman looked around to see where they could find some type of shelter. It was still too fierce to run to any neighboring homes, just too dangerous. Noticing the walls of a small closet still standing with an overhanging portion of the old roof, Inez and Edwin quickly maneuvered their way through fallen debris to find refuge there. They covered themselves with whatever remnants available to avoid the pounding pellets of the rain and debris flying as ammunition in the gale, holding on to whatever they could to anchor themselves against the forceful winds. In the morning hours Joaquin abated, leaving behind smatterings of rain and wind. Inez Major and Edwin took this reprieve provided by nature to emerge from their shelter to find a safer place to rest. They made their way through a ravaged environment that looked like a war zone, to their closest neighbors home, that of Diana Darville.
Inez said during moments of the storm she thought all hope was lost. She felt she and her grandnephew would have perished in this storm. So many thoughts raced through her mind. She thought of many family members, whom she loved and felt she would never see again. She paused here as she told her story, as remembering her experience brought tears to her eyes. She continued sharing. But when it got so bad as the house crumbled around her leaving nothing but the closet where she huddled, in her greatest moment of desperation, she said she cried, “God, please don’t let me die like this.” In those moments of utter despair she began to pray to live. Inez Major and Edwin survived the storm. She lost everything she owned, but her heart is filled with gratitude for life and is thankful for all lives spared throughout the southerly islands during this terrible storm.
On Wednesday, 5 days after the storm was over, Inez Major and Edwin were evacuated….her feet lifting off the soil of Long Island for the first in her entire lifetime as they took flight (first plane ride) in a chartered airplane, thanks to her nephew Daniel and the graciousness of Father Turnquest. She is now resting in Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama surrounded by her loving family.
After this horrific experience and fight for survival, she is now enjoying a well deserved relaxing VACATION. That is what she calls it. Her heart yearns to return to the place she has known all her life, Hogan Road, Roses, Long Island. She longs for her home to be rebuilt and to return “to the place where she belongs!”
Images of Long Island devastation: https://www.google.bs/search?q=hurricane+joaquin+damage+long+island+bahamas&espv=2&biw=1745&bih=828&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBoQsARqFQoTCOP_4dKS5MgCFQZcHgodzNkOSg
Damage to Mangrove Bush Primary School: http://www.tribune242.com/photos/galleries/2015/oct/14/damage-caused-hurricane-joaquin-mangrove-bush-prim/
October 2015
May God continue to bless Inez and her family.
Sooooo many stories to tell from our South.
An amazing story, so well chronicled by a loving relative. Mrs. Major is now cocooned in the comfort and love of her loving family.
I believe that there are many other similar stories in the other islands affected by the hurricane where the very elderly and the young inhabit the islands. This act of God is going to change forever, everything about these islands, for the better.