Relationship falls apart after heavy rain wrecks couple’s home

Samaro 'Dwight' Reid is convinced that the heavy rains that drenched eastern Jamaica in October 2020 is to be blamed for the destruction of his decades-long relationship.

Reid and his then common-law wife, Denique Groves, were forced to flee their Shooters Hill, St Andrew, house in the wee hours of the morning when its foundation and walls were shifted by landslides.

"We lose we house inna di heavy rain and ... we batter it out for a while," Reid said.

He, however, lamented that the house was just a part of his losses as he was eventually forced to part with Groves with whom he has a 25-year-old son.

"She needed a better place to stay and mi couldn't do it," Reid told THE STAR on a recent visit to the community to check on hurricane preparedness.

Shooters Hill suffered a monumental loss two years ago when Romeo Leachman and his 15-year-old daughter, Saneeka Leachman, died when their house was swept away by floodwaters and they were buried in a landslide.

Reid remembers the night of horror as if it were yesterday.

"We inna we place about minutes after 4 (in the morning), and we feel di house a move. We hear some ting a go 'prap, prap, prap,' so a di foundation and tile a buss up dem time deh. Mi babymother come off a di bed and a go towards di kitchen area and di grung just split and di house start drop. When mi realise a straight outta door mi a look. Mi start fret say di roof and di house a guh cave in on wi," he said.

Reid said he, Groves, their son and grandson dashed from the house, battling the gusty winds and heavy rains along the way.

"A bare wata and mi stone wall drop 'boof'. We were building a bar beside the house and mi just watch the Earth just move with it suh and it tun over inna di road. We start call for help and we start take out some of the things. Mi woman say mi must leave it make it tear down but mi still try and take out what I could," he said.

Groves and Reid managed to save a mattress. After he rains he built a shack beside the spot where their house was located. That was their home for a few months.

"Things were ugly, it was like we were living like jailers. We just had the mattress and Denique was bawling for back pain. Mi end up have to go back go live with mi madda, and right now mi life mash up. It destroy everything for us," Reid said.

"We were building a verandah and a bar when the house collapsed. Because a dis she have to move on with another man because she nuh have anyone. Her mother died and mi never really in a position to help har, so mi just have to watch the love of mi life gone with a next man, " Reid said.

Groves, meanwhile, looked on quietly as Reid poured out his heart. She acknowledged the destruction of their dwelling contributed significantly to the ending of their relationship. However, she said that while they remain very good friends, she does not see them getting back together as they have both moved on with their lives.

In the meantime, Reid said other than from the Red Cross, the family has not received any assistance. He stated that as another hurricane season starts, his greatest wish is to have a roof of his own. He says he constantly visits the location where he once lived and although his dream seems far-fetched, he refuses to give up.

"Right now mi a do things whe mi never do before to survive. Mi end up a bun all coal just to make a money. Mi wah build back summen, I swear, because is the fittest of the fittest going to survive," he said.