And as we showed you just now, of the $77 million in estimated damages – the most costly is in Kendall where the 250 foot bridge was washed away. But for all that’s been said about it this week, Kendall is not a village. It is 200 residents are still fighting for political recognition as a village. But, more than just a marker on the map, Kendall – as the whole country has learned this week – is a pivotal connection between north and south – and today Keith Swift found out what it’s like living without that all important bridge.
Keith SwiftReporting,
This is all that’s left of the Kendall Bridge. It’s hard to imagine but the 250 foot long structure that connected the two banks of the Sittee river – and that connected the south to the rest of the country was washed away on Monday. Now all residents on either side can do is stand on the edges and gaze - because if you want to go south of the bridge – you need to jump
on a boat. The BDF is ferrying people for free but that’s no consolation for the residents in Kendall who are directly affected.
Madlene Bull, Kendall Resident
“We cannot pass the way we want like before and buying our groceries, we can’t bring our groceries. It affects us because some of us don’t like to ride the dory and that is why it affects us mostly.”
Seferina Teul, Kendall Resident
“When you want to go out now, you just can’t pass the river the way how we want. Worse now there is no bridge. The truck can’t pass so people have to cross in dory and if you buy lots of things, you can’t bring at one time.”
Keith Swift,
Are you able to get the food and stuff that you need?
Seferina Teul,
“We try to get what we want. Right now my husband just went to buy groceries. He has to back now, put it in a dory and then cross it over and back it again when you go home.”
And no bridge has meant no work for Florentino Teck and no school for Isola Matute’s son. Both have been able to make it to the other side of the
river since Monday.
Isola Matute, Kendall Resident
“My children are going to school to Silk Grass and they can’t pass to go to school now. I want to know how they are going to pass.”
Keith Swift,
There is a dory going across, why haven’t you sent your child in the dory?
Isola Matute,
“Because I am afraid he’d drop out of the dory.”
Keith Swift,
So he has been out of school since Monday?
Isola Matute,
“Yes.”
Florentino Teck, Kendall Resident
“It’s very hard for us because we can’t get our goods. If the truck do come and pass the goods on our side, they don’t want to sell us or nothing. They just want to go where they are going and we are left without. So people come and ask us for food and thing and we don’t have nothing to cook or nothing to give them. Right now we are not working, how we are going to cross the river. If you don’t have $2 you can’t cross the river.”
Keith Swift,
So where would you be if you could have crossed the bridge?
Florentino Teck,
“At work.”
Keith Swift,
But you’re not.
Florentino Teck,
“Yeah, probably tomorrow morning.”
Keith Swift,
And how long since you’ve been at work?
Florentino Teck,
“Since Monday.”
Keith Swift,
So you’re not making money?
Florentino Teck,
“No money. See we are right now standing up here; things hard.”
And it is not only hard on residents of Kendall. We found citrus magnate William Bowman transporting oranges by boat from one side of the river to the other.
William Bowman, Citrus Farmer
“I had about 2,600 to 2,700 bags, those are 90 pounds each, of oranges from Sunday and this now is a salvage operation, as you can see, to try and get it into the factory before they spoil completely. It is a heck of a lot more but it is still worth moving the fruit and not losing it. These people have picked it, I will pay them for it. But any which way we can get it across, I have a truck and trailer over waiting for it to be loaded into that and then to be taken to the factory. It is a very slow process so I will be moving one fifth of the volume I normally move but as I said, it needs to be done.”
The Kendall Bridge was a lifeline to the south – but a way of life in Kendall and work is being done on a temporary solution but until that is complete – Antonia Teck says Kendall won’t be the same.
Antonia Teck, Kendall Resident
“Well I feel very bad about it. I feel like I am just lost. I feel like everybody just gaan away.”
Later on in the news – we’ll have more from Keith Swift’s southern travels today.
