Without internet, electricity or water, Jamaicans detail ‘devastating’ impacts of stormpublished at 16:53 GMT
Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Miami, Florida
Andre
Palmer has been sheltering in place at his home in south-eastern Kingston since
Saturday, prepared for the worst.
Although
the brunt of the damage from the storm has missed him, he still considers it
“the most intense hurricane I’ve ever experienced”.
“For about
16 hours, there was just this intense wind and lots of rain that just kept
beating on the house and windows and doors. Debris was flying in the wind. It
was actually quite intense,” he says.
Palmer says
he’s been without electricity and running water since Tuesday morning, and was
only able to speak to me because he charged his phone in his car earlier.
He’s unsure
of when internet, electricity and water will be restored. “Right now, it’s
really a wait and see game,” he says.
He’s also
waiting to find out the condition of his family in west Jamaica, in an
area officials have described as “devastated”.
“I haven’t
heard from them this since around (17:00 EST) yesterday”, Palmer says, adding
that, when trying to reach them on Wednesday, “calls are going directly to
voicemail”.
