Up In The Colonia

We're having quite the rain storm here on the island. This is day two of some torrential rainfall. I've been concerned about our friends who live up in the colonia on very steep hillsides (yes, even steeper than ours) ever since hearing about some homes that were washed down the hill during heavy rains. Don tells me that in most places there is bedrock 12-18 inches down, so California style mud-slides are unlikely. But, plenty of things can be washed down the hill and many of these houses are not well constructed.

To give you an idea of how steep, click on each of these photos to enlarge them and take a good look. In the first photo, our pastor's wife, Tia, and son, Carlton, are following two children up the hill to their home. This section of road doesn't look too bad, but it gets worse.

Click to enlarge.

Now it's just a dirt path going higher. Tia is that tiny red speck way up the path. The house on the left is wrapped in blue tarps.

The house on the right is Tanya's. You'll hear much more about her family.

This is Carlton, sitting on the very steep path up to Tanya's house. Imagine a heavy rain washing down that path, turning it into a waterfall.

This is the front of Tanya's house. Notice the left side of the roof...that's a tarp. Not much protection in heavy wind and rain. The walls are a hodge-podge construction of boards, plastic, and tin, with plenty of gaps to allow air, light and, oh yeah, rain to enter. From this angle, the house may look large, but it is not. I'll post pictures of the interior tomorrow and tell you the story of Tanya.