Lessons from Sandy

Orville Taylor, Contributor

I have wanted to visit New York and New Jersey for the past four years, and each time something else came up. In fact, it was my intention to travel up the eastern seaboard of the United States, along with a woman who blew me off me feet, and to see my friends in Queens and other boroughs in America, where the residents' first language is Jamaican Creole.

But, Sandy firsted me. After all, she dumped me as a category one. But, as with most women who leave men back in Jamaica, she stepped up immediately and, like a true migrant, got bigger and stronger and started moving with some really cold people, who turned her into a monster.

The American press was on her tail and stuck to her like the smell of sardine on a poor man's breath. Long before she reached New York, the mayor and governor mobilised troops, got flat-bottomed boats and inflatable zodiacs and initiated protocols for compulsory evacuation.

Sitting in the comfort of my living room, I was able to call my few friends who had cellphone service in the city, and inform them what we knew from CNN, NBC and others. True, the American press and government have far more resources than we have, but my immediate impression was that the information was getting out there and the elected politicians were on top of it.

Sandy hit the New York-New Jersey area last Monday evening. Within 24 hours, we knew that some six persons had died and 50 houses in Queens burnt to the ground. Of course, these figures jumped up. By Tuesday, the estimates for New York alone were US$50 billion in damage and 32 persons killed. That same day, President Obama, who had summoned his mayors and governors from the northeastern states, declared a "major disaster". Standing toe to toe with him, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a man twice his size, and diehard Mitt Romney backer, heaped praise on him. "He has worked incredibly closely with me since before the storm hit … . I cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state and for the people … ."

While it is clearly in his political interest to do so, given that elections are two days away, Obama waxed presidential by showing that he is in charge and is putting nation over party. Jamaican politicians, who were in Parliament playing political one-upmanship 24 hours before Sandy arrived, are still doing so as recently as tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the feeling I got from my own Jamrock was a public that felt that the press did not fully warn and inform them. There has to be some truth there, because the notion of a hurricane arriving here did not reach our agenda before Monday, and by Tuesday, there was not much time to push it. Thus, the blame has to be accepted that the Met Service and the media did not pass out information on the system early enough.

KEPT IN THE DARK

Furthermore, despite being plugged into several media houses and the requisite agencies with well-trained communications specialists, my own impression was that there was not enough known and told regarding the damage.

With great incredulity, especially after the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) announced that close to 90 per cent of householders had power and its promise to have 100 per cent by last Sunday, I dipped into my pockets and self-financed my excursion in search of the truth.

It was a revealing experience as I trekked around the east side of the nation. Two things hit me: the level of impact is more than I thought, and the authorities are not as responsive as one would have hoped. However, the resilience of the Jamaican people resonated with a clamour. Caribbean Terrace was a revelation. True, it is prime beachfront property, but only the dumbest of developers and complicit government officials could have decided to build there. As was said in the column last Sunday, it is not only the poor and squatters who construct dwellings in unliveable zones.

For the southernmost part of the community, it is simply a miracle that the houses were not destroyed long ago. Yet, Caribbean Terrace is also now the stereotypical unplanned settlement as well. Ravaged repeatedly by hurricanes, the 'residences' range from archaeological ruins to occupiable but uninhabitable shells.

A remarkable story of two men who underestimated Sandy emerged. Locked inside, they had to brace and hold on as waves rose up like an invading army. Over the next few days, they dug almost enough sand to replace the 500 truckloads whose disappearance is still a mystery.

These men were squatters, but just as the legal owners of the houses on the beach, they chose to live in a place that should never have been earmarked for residences. Contrary to popular lore, the legitimate owners of the units, which are not built smack on the beach, did not abandon their homes. Rather, each household left a sentinel, to brave the storm in a coordinated community effort.

The two 'squatters' and the legal owners demonstrate the outstanding theme of Sandy in Jamaica: the people were not waiting for Government or other politicians to help them. They were taking control of their own destinies. Not far away, in Shooters Hill, a small group of young men were digging debris from drain tunnels, and no elected politician was involved.

In Port Morant, residents were doing the same thing, but a 71-year-old man, living in very humble and fragile quarters in the Seaside district of the community, did not see any agent of the State, Church or anyone else. Up to Saturday, I was the only person to speak to him, even though his house had been flooded and all his belongings were outside.

A pair of women were active in the Long Bay area, in Portland, and although acting for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, at least one is a known political activist, though she was quick to indicate that she was not acting on a partisan basis. Still, as it was elsewhere, that was peripheral to the real relief effort, as citizens all the way to Port Antonio were doing it mostly for themselves. By the way, the Boston jerkers were doubling as disaster clean-up crews and chefs, as they had pitched together, reconstructed the shops, and got the jerk out.

Broadgate in St Mary impressed as well. Women and men reminded me why I took the easy route and went to college. With strength and stamina beyond my urban muscles, they turned their misfortune into a couple 'grand' as they dug the washed-up sand from the riverbeds and verandas and sold truckloads.

NOT ADDING UP

All these anecdotes are true first-hand accounts. But, I am still trying to reconcile the 10 per cent of households without light, with the total blackout I saw from Port Morant to Stony Hill two Saturdays ago. I would suggest that the JPS recheck what percentage of its almost 600,000 subscribers reside in Portland, St Mary and St Thomas. Perhaps, I am using grammar to calculate, but the math seems wrong.

Finally, Minister Sandrea Falconer and Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz need to take a page out of the book of Obama and Christie. People in the east need help, not politics.

I also take this opportunity to remind my readers that on October 30, 2005, I warned: "In the case of Greater Portmore, I am hoping and praying that the 14-footlong crocodile does not one day decide to crawl from out of one's nightmare up into someone's yard and snatch a child simply because the gullies were never completed … . Where were the environmental agencies when this ... community was being approved for construction?"

Now you understand why people are doing it themselves.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in sociology at the University of the West Indies and a radio talk-show host. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.