Two men tonight are sleeping in hazard conditions after Hurricane Lisa destroyed their homes. They were both inside their respective houses when the breeze became too much. For one man, his house was tipped over and he had to escape through his floor. For another man, his house broke in half, and he had to run through the rain to take shelter.
Now, these men are hoping for help to be able to rebuild their homes. Courtney Menzies spoke with both of them and has this story.
More than a week after Hurricane Lisa passed, residents are still rebuilding their homes and their lives.
But for some, that process hasn't started yet, because they haven't gotten the assistance they need, and they've been living in homes that are close to collapsing.
Tyrone Stevens is one of those residents. Since the hurricane hit, he has been using this hole he created to get in and out of his house after the heavy winds tipped it over. All his possessions are now leaning against the wall, where he has to put his mattress to sleep.
Stevens' former home has recently burnt down, and he was able to procure his own zinc sheets and wood to build a makeshift house. Now, he just needs some help to set it upright.
Tyrone Stevens Sr., House Destroyed By Hurricane
"I was lying down and I just wrapped up on my bed because the breeze was blowing, feel chilly cause the hurricane was coming. I just built this thing and I said, let me see what it could take. I said, I'm going through this thing now, my ship was sailing. First session done, we came outside and we were out here watching what was happening, I'm not sure if it was in the eye, in the eye quiet. Then the back piece start coming, drizzling, and everybody gone inside back. I was chilling out again and it started up again and I just warm up again. So I just pull my little thing and light it cause it done gone through the first one, I said we're going through it again. Then I heard the thing go… after that it drop back and I fly to the back, blam, I know my ribs. I just coiled up in the corner and I said, what, it didn't move anymore, and I just went down through the hole. I moved faster than the cat."
Courtney Menzies:
"Where are you staying now, right in there?"
Tyrone Stevens Sr., House Destroyed By Hurricane
"Yup, I sleep in there every night."
Courtney Menzies:
"So I noticed this thing tied to the tree and tied to the [house], did you do that?"
Tyrone Stevens Sr., House Destroyed By Hurricane
"Yeah, I braced that up, I just put that strap there so it doesn't fall when I'm sleeping in there at night."
Courtney Menzies:
"But it must be scary for you to stay in there..."
Tyrone Stevens Sr., House Destroyed By Hurricane
"No when I go lie down, I make sure I jerk on it so I say once it will drop, we will drop one time."
Courtney Menzies:
"How many organizations have come by since the hurricane?"
Tyrone Stevens Sr., House Destroyed By Hurricane
"A couple people pass through, City Council, the minister of the area pass a couple times, the prime minister flew through. Couple people pass and asked and stop."
"But the people who you would say would handle this kind of groundwork that would assist with a little backhoe or something like that, I'm not getting that type of feedback from nobody, no help, they say they will come but they don't come back. I don't know if they don't have the power or they're not pulling those strings, I don't know what kind of guitar they are playing but they're not pulling the kind of strings they should be pulling."
And he's still hoping the City Council will come around with their machinery to put his house back where it belongs.
And as for Kemsley Figueroa, the house that he has lived in since he was 18 lost its roof, its walls, and broke in half during the hurricane. Now, the broken half sits in the swamp underneath it, and he's forced to take his mattress up to his rooftop to sleep at night.
Kemsley Figueroa, House Destroyed By Hurricane
"When the breeze start shake harder and the rain start come harder, I was in my house, and my house was breaking down and I ran out of my house."
Courtney Menzies:
"So you felt it tip over?"
Kemsley Figueroa, House Destroyed By Hurricane
"Everything was shaking, moving zinc was going, wall was blowing off, that's when I ran out of the house."
"I felt bad, I dropped a little tears, but I can't do anything, the only thing I could do was try to get help."
Courtney Menzies:
"But you're still living here."
Kemsley Figueroa, House Destroyed By Hurricane
"Yes ma'am, I sleep on my rooftop."
Courtney Menzies:
"Are you able to actually go into your house and use it?"
Kemsley Figueroa, House Destroyed By Hurricane
"Right now, I can't use it, the bathroom full up, the tub full up, the only thing I can maybe go on is the bed, everything else got water, chair everything destroyed, clothes everything."
"To the situation of my house, where you can see, that dropped off the post the broke in half, most of my boards are rotten, eventually I have to break down the whole of that to build that over and I will still need help."
Courtney Menzies:
"So right now you're just looking for some type of building materials?"
Kemsley Figueroa, House Destroyed By Hurricane
"Yes ma'am, or maybe if I could get a house that's better than this one, it would help me more."
And for tonight, two of these men will continue to sleep haphazardly, as they wait for help to hopefully arrive.
Stevens lives at 8882 J.R. Street in the Jane Usher area and can be reached through his neighbor's phone number at 606-7556, and Figueroa lives at 17 Arlington Drive and can be reached at phone number 621-5431.
