IMAGINE SITTING at home watching television when the world suddenly starts to shake.
Not the whole world, of course, but your world seems to be on the move and everything around you shakes and shudders and you wonder what is happening.
Add to this the fact that you live in the most unstable part of the country where an hour of rain could spell trouble.
This is what people living in the Scotland District, which takes up about one-seventh of Barbados’ land space, have been going through. Street Beat went to speak to the resilient people of St Joseph to find out if they have been living in fear following the earth tremors in July.
Nigel Blenman, of Parks Road, St Joseph, said he did not feel those tremors but vividly recalled the “big one” some years ago.
“The one that really frighten me was a few years ago when I saw my TV shaking,” he said. “After that, there were some showers and then land slippage. I don’t know if the quake caused it by loosening up the ground.”
Lionel Parris said he feared a strong earthquake could spell disaster for the area.
“Up here really slippery, so if we get a real shake, the houses may slip down. A little rain does cause slippage, so a big tremor could do the same,” he said.
Parris said he felt one of the quakes in July.
“I was washing my car and I thought the car was running away. Then I see the people run out of the shop,” he said.
Parris was also concerned about the current temperatures. He said he had noticed how hot the days were, especially in their area, and said this, too, could be problematic in light of the hurricane season.
“Right now, the heat got the land cracked so if a [weather system] then brings rain, there might be trouble,” he said.
As for Blenman, he said he did not see any change in the surrounding environment following the tremors but added he did not know if this would change as the damage could be unseen. Even so, the men said there was no other place they would rather live as it was very peaceful there.
Over at Spa Hill, Junior Hoyte speculated thatearth tremors could cause cracks in the earth which, filled with water when rain fell, would cause thesoil to move.
“Out here is bare mud, so every time it get agitate, it will move,” he said. “Tremors may cause cracks and when the fain fall, it will get in the cracks and move the soil. I have lived here 11 years and I have seen all the land across from me slip way. I can see it may come to me and my children having to move some day.”
Parks Road and Chimborazo are visible to each other as two high areas separated by a depression.
A Chimborazo resident who did not want to be identified said she was concerned about earth tremors as it was rainfall which was causing the land to lean.
“The land slips during rain and you can see the road start to crack up, but I am still happy here; I like the quiet, there is no kind of violence. I just hope it doesn’t come to my own house slipping,” she said.
Around the corner, a group of men were liming. One of them, Keith Grant, said he hadn’t seen any slippage since the tremors.
“We will have to wait until the rains come,”he said.
Winston “Tot” Gamble said the area was oily and rain only compounded the issue. He also said illegal dumping in the area was not helping matters.
carlosatwell@nationnews.com
