Pregnant mother pleads for help after wind rips off roof, damage appliances

A West Coast Demerara (WCD) family is left with one mattress and a few pieces of dry clothing after heavy winds on Tuesday ripped off the roof of their house and resulted in rain damaging everything inside.

Melissa Minty, 29, rents a house at Lot 41 Leonora where she lives with her spouse, 6-year-old son, mother and two siblings.

The woman, who is also expecting her second child in a month, told the News Room that at around 17:30h on Tuesday, heavy winds ripped off almost all of the zinc sheets on the wooden house.

“The winds blew off the entire roof and then everything start to get wet…all my mattress and other thing got wet up. I had to throw out my microwave, television, fridge and my son had a laptop, all had to throw out,” Minty said as she struggled to hold back tears.

The woman works as a school cleaner but is currently out of a job as schools were closed since March to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The house is owned by an elderly couple who themselves cannot afford to do repairs.

With nowhere else to go and unable to pay the required deposit to rent another property, the family currently occupies another section of the house where they were able to fix a part of the roof.

“I am trying to see somewhere to rent but it is so expensive and deposit they want to start is a lot,” she told the News Room.

Minty said they are using one mattress donated to her by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).

Another NGO –Culture of Blessing Inc. –is seeking the public’s help to build a house for the family at Uitvlugt.

The young mother explained that she recently finished paying off for a plot of land at Uitvlugt and collected the transport, however, she cannot afford to start construction as yet.

Representative of Culture of Blessing Inc., Neermala Ramsaywack told the News Room that the organisation is looking to build a two bedroom wooden house so the family can relocate.

“I’m kindly requesting persons to reach out to donate because we cannot do this alone we need your support and help to make this all possible,” Ramsaywack said.

To donate to the organisation, contact +5926468210. The family can be reached on  +5926871445.