Senior citizen struggles after Beryl destroys house and livelihood

Errol Thomas sat wearily at the doorway of what remained of his five-bedroom home, his expression a mix of exhaustion and bewilderment.

The Portland Cottage resident, in Clarendon, has been struggling to recover from the devastation brought on by Hurricane Beryl nearly a month ago.

"People stole some of my things, so I don't even know how I'm going to start over. Mosquitoes bite me up every night. I have nothing left. Just the other day, I walked down the road, found an old mattress, and thought I could use the sponge to make two hassocks to sell, but there's no electricity here to power the few tools I have left," Thomas said.

As he walked through the rubble of his broken-down house, he sighed deeply. Pieces of damaged furniture and work tools were scattered among the concrete and plywood remains. At 67, Thomas, a furniture maker, now lives alone, as two of his children had to seek refuge elsewhere after the Category 4 hurricane.

"The house -- half of it is gone, along with my furniture. I used to do furniture work, but all my tools mash up. It was a five-bedroom house with a living room, dining room, and kitchen. Believe it or not, I built this house myself, block by block, just me and God, and now it's all gone," Thomas said.

Thomas wasn't home during Hurricane Beryl's passage on July 3, and he was devastated to discover the next morning that his home had been torn apart.

"Mi did sad, but also happy say the roof of my room never gone. All a mi shoes dem mash up. Is just this on mi foot mi have, and is two different foot a slippers, but dem fit," he said, while pointing at the pair of mismatched Crocs on his feet.

Thomas, who also suffers from hypertension and diabetes, has been living without electricity and potable water, which have yet to be restored in his section of the community. He relies on rainwater and water trucks for his needs.