Elderly woman drowns in her home as Hurricane Melissa devastates Adelphi, St James

A pall of grief hung over the quiet community of Marley Lane in Adelphi, St James, on Wednesday after 86-year-old Esmelda Taylor lost her life when raging floodwaters from Hurricane Melissa engulfed her home late Monday night.

Taylor, who lived with her 88-year-old husband Horace Taylor, was unable to escape as the three-bedroom house they shared was battered by ferocious winds that tore off its roof and sent torrents of water rushing inside through broken doors.

Their caregiver, Nigel Wilson, who had been with the couple during the storm, fought desperately to save them, but was overwhelmed by the sudden rise of floodwaters.

“On the night of the storm the water came upon us rapidly, and all I could think of is just try to save us, but God was so good to us that he gave us a second chance,” Wilson said, still visibly shaken.

Wilson recounted that he tried to rescue both of them, but the raging current made it impossible.

“What did there was a piece of furniture, so I put the wife on it to stand and assist the husband,” he explained.

Standing six feet two inches tall, Wilson said the water level rose so high it almost covered him. “I prayed and was able to keep the husband afloat until help arrive the following day,” he recalled, his voice breaking.

At one point during the interview, Wilson broke down in tears, whispering, “Mi try but mi couldn’t save the two of them and myself.”

Horace Taylor, frail but thankful to be alive, sat quietly in a neighbour’s back room on Wednesday as he struggled to come to terms with his wife’s death.

“If is wasn’t for him, I would die too,” he said, pointing to Wilson.

He praised the caregiver’s bravery. “He was attending to mi wife and he turned around and saw me and he grabbed me and put me back up and tell me to hold on, and mi hold on, and him blow in my nostril three times and mi survived,” Taylor told The Gleaner.

He said he and his wife held on through the long, terrifying night until they were rescued on Tuesday.

According to him, during the ordeal his wife was singing, but at one stage said she wanted to sleep.

“I hear him tell her to stay up, no you can’t sleep because you in water, and mi hear when she say the Lord’s prayer.”

Moments later, Taylor said he heard sounds of his wife choking. “Wilson said to me that she was gone. Mi say Lord Jesus Christ, she drown,” he recounted, tears filling his eyes.

Up to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Esmelda’s body was still lying in the flooded house as rescue workers battled fallen trees and downed utility poles to reach her.

The tragedy has sent shock waves through the Adelphi community, where residents described the Taylors as humble, church-going people who had lived together for more than six decades.

One neighbour summed up the mood of the community: “It rough. Miss Esmelda live long, but fi drown inna har own house … dat hurt everybody.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com