“I almost died there, that’s what really happened.”
This was the statement of Debra Woods, 44, of Eastern Quarry, Laventille after her neighbour’s 50-foot retaining wall fell on her house on May 18, following two days of heavy rains.
Woods said she had just got out of the shower and put on clothes when the house started "exploding" around her.
“Everything started to fall and cave in and loud noises. I got really frightened and tried to escape but the door was locked. I ran to the other side of the house but I couldn't get out because of the burglar proof. I turned and started to pray and said, 'God help me!'
“I tried to calm myself and the roof had fallen and I could see a V opening in the wall connecting the living room to the bedroom, so I got up on the bed and I just threw myself over there and tried to squeeze through the door to get out to safety. I almost died there, that’s what really happened.”
She said she did not realise what had happened until after she got out of the house.
“With the heavy rains, the wall just came down and destroyed over 90 per cent of the house.
“My neighbours came and took me to the hospital. I had to get stitches on both feet and get an X-ray. I was discharged at 1 am and I stayed by a neighbour, because the Disaster Management Unit people from the San Juan Regional Corporation told me it was unsafe to stay in the house. I have nowhere else to go.”
Woods said she had been contacted and/or visited by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, Laventille West MP Kareem Marcelle, councilor Darren Corridon, the Works and Transport Ministry, the People, Social Development and Family Services Ministry and the TT Electricity Commission and was told her house was unlivable.
She said she received a food card and forms to fill out to get vouchers. She said she was told she would not be able to get a grant for housing materials as she had not owned the house for 12 years.
“I’m hoping the Ministry of Housing will be able to assist. I bought the house seven years ago, did some renovations and fixed it up and now everything is just gone.”
Anyone interested in assisting Woods can call/WhatsApp at 721-4411.
Lee-Ann Baptiste, 36, said she and her mother Ingrid Kydd, 66, were at home at Readymix Private Road, Prizgar Lands, Laventille, around 3 pm on the evening of May 18 and heard cracking and crashing noises. As they were looking outside to see what had happened, neighbours called them to say their retaining wall had fallen on the neighbour’s house.
[caption id="attachment_1156084" align="alignnone" width="768"] The front of Debra Woods house after retaining wall collapsed on the roof on May 18. - Photo courtesy Debra Woods[/caption]
“When we watch out, we wall fall on top the neighbour house in the quarry and mash up she whole back of she house and half of she roof and she window, from she bedroom to her kitchen to half of her drawing room.”
Baptiste said they called Woods to apologise for the damage and inconvenience to her home, as they had put up the wal
