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When the winds roared through the valleys of Westmoreland and the rain pounded relentlessly against rooftops, three women, Corretta James-Yapp, Gloria Findley-McDonald, and Sherlette Wheelan, found their lives uprooted by the ferocity of Hurricane Melissa. Their stories, told in quiet voices, still edged with disbelief, spoke of terror, loss, and gratitude. Although each lost her home, all share a single refrain – gratitude for life. For Corretta James-Yapp, a Community Health Aide from the Waterworks area, the storm began like many others, rain lashing the walls, wind whistling through the cracks, but that soon turned into a fight for survival. “I felt the board sections on the house shifting. My husband said, ‘We have to fly out of the house’. We just managed to run out with our 11-year-old son before the roof went. By the time we reached the neighbour’s house, that roof was gone too,” she recalled. She described watching as the floodwaters swallowed up homes and turned them into “mud huts.” Through the ordeal, her young son wept in fear. “He cried through the entire passing of the hurricane,” she said softly. “It was so traumatic, for him and for me,” she added. Now staying with relatives, Mrs. James-Yapp said she draws strength from faith and family. “I’m thankful because I have a roof over my head tonight to sleep. My son has a roof. My husband stayed back [at our house] to guard what’s left, but he managed to fix a little part of the structure. I’m just grateful for life,” she said. Despite her own hardship, her concern still extends to others who have suffered a worse fate than her family. “My coworker is worse off than I am. She has three school-age sons and lost everything. I wish you could hear her story,” Mrs. James-Yapp said. Suffering a similar ordeal in the same community was Gloria Findley-McDonald, who still moves gingerly, nursing an injured hip from the night she fled her collapsing home. “I thought I was safe inside, but when the roof started to lift, I had to run to the neighbour’s house for shelter. The wind hit me and threw me down. My blood pressure went up to 206 over 104. It was terrifying,” she said, her voice shaking. Having recently buried her husband, she said Hurricane Melissa “just stress me out really badly”. Now staying with neighbours who share food and water, Mrs. Findley-McDonald reflected on her narrow escape. “I went through Hurricane Gilbert, but Melissa is the worst for me,” she told JIS News in the interview. “I’m 49 years old, and I don’t even know where to start again, but I give God thanks. I have life, and that’s the most important part. This is a sign to show us that God is real. We need to seek Jesus,” she said. For Sherlette Wheelan, of Llandilo in the parish, the memory of Melissa is still raw, as a week after the category-five hurricane she still resides at a shelter located at Godfrey Stewart High School in the parish, her next move uncertain. “My house is like a rubbish heap, completely gone. If it wasn’t for the shelter manager [here], I don’t know what I would’ve done. She found space for me and others, even though her own roof was gone,” she told JIS News. Mrs. Wheelan noted that she paid $2,000 to reach the shelter in the driving rain and now depends on community goodwill. Having weathered other storms in the past, she admitted she once felt confident enough to ride them out. “However, this one shook me up a bit,” she said quietly. “Whenever I go over there [Llandilo] and look at the house, tears come [to my eyes]. I don’t know where to go now. My father’s roof is gone too, so I just stick around with friends until something comes through,” Mrs. Wheelan added. Although Hurricane Melissa stripped away their possessions, these women’s stories reveal an enduring spirit of resilience. Mrs. James-Yapp said she would rebuild stronger. “Going forward, I’m thinking about full concrete and decking the roof,” she emphasised. Mrs. Findley-McDonald focuses on healing and gratitude, while Mrs. Wheelan places her hopes in community support and the kindness of others. All three women agree that life itself is the greatest blessing. Amid destruction and uncertainty, they are bound by faith, determination, and the comfort of knowing they survived one of the most powerful storms to have ever swept across the island.
