'The river took everything'- Family feels the wrath of the Rio Cobre

For 37 years, Pamella Henry has been living on luck, in a house built on the banks of the Rio Cobre in Thompson Pen, St Catherine. Her luck ran out last week, however, when the island was lashed with unusually heavy rains. The river took everything.

"Bwoy dis rough, is only what you see on the bed that mi have leave. The river gone wid everything we own," Henry said, pointing to a dented tin of mackerel, a bottle of cooking oil and a bag of rice.

Never before has the mother of six seen the river get as angry as it did last week.

"Even the pots in the house wash away, so the rice nuh really help. I never see anything like this in all my life," she said, her arms and legs splattered with mud.

Henry's youngest child, an angel-faced girl about three years old, reached out to touch the bag of rice as she looked up at her mother. Her feet, too, were covered in mud.

something terrible

The family was awakened by the roaring of the river last Wednesday night. They said that even though they live right next to the river and have been threatened by its waters many times, this time was different. This time, the family knew something terrible was about to happen.

Henry, four of her children and a grandchild had to run out of their small home and over to a nearby shed for shelter until morning. Meanwhile, the river invaded their home, washing away nearly everything inside.

The family, already burdened by poverty, now has to figure out how to replace what little they had, now that it is all gone.