People in Random Island East are coping in the aftermath of hurricane Igor without power, running water and a shortage of gas. They remained without regular transport to the mainland Thursday, with supplies being brought in by altruistic boat owners.
Washouts on the roadways between the island’s hamlets — places such as Petley, Lower Lance Cove and Weybridge — have disconnected neighbours and families.
But within the communities people have banded together for whatever is needed.
On Thursday, several residents of Hickman’s Harbour and an ambulance arrived at Olive Vardy’s home to rescue her. The home had been isolated by flood damage. Rescuers had to construct a makeshift bridge from logs in Vardy’s front yard to get her to the road.
“It was pretty scary for awhile,” her granddaughter Amanda Parrott said.
A short time later, Vardy was sitting with a glass of ginger ale at the nearby Miraquinn Hilltop Manor seniors’ home. She said her daughter, who lives with her, had convinced the family to leave their isolated home.
“The forecast said for rain tomorrow, so she didn’t want me there, afraid it would...,” Vardy said, with the words “wash away” mouthed by an employee of the seniors’ residence who was standing behind her, giving a quick rub to her shoulders. “I don’t know if we’ll go back to the house or not. It depends. (My daughter) thinks she might get an apartment in Clarenville and go up there.”
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Vardy had lived 30 years in the home she evacuated. At the seniors’ home, she was welcomed without question, joining the 15 regular residents. The residents have relative luxuries such as lights and a cold fridge, courtesy of a pair of generators. The generators were also supporting a respirator for one woman.
Outside of the building, as throughout the area, 10-gallon buckets of water had been set in a waiting line. The water was hauled in by employees as toilets needed flushing.
Employees at the seniors’ home, like Pat Vardy, have continued to work to help the residents post-hurricane. Vardy said she used solar lights from her lawn to get ready for work at her usual pre-dawn time Thursday morning. She said the seniors’ residence had plenty of food, but was waiting for a delivery of medical supplies and oxygen, to come by boat from Clarenville.
Employees at the home opened its doors to everyone in the community in need of assistance. A delivery of food and bottled water from Clarenville, donated by the Co-op store there, was taken to the shed of the Miraquinn Hilltop Manor. Some was provided to people able to reach the building. More was boxed for families — a loaf of bread, a few bananas — and distributed in the area.
Co-owners of the seniors’ residence, Kim and Chris Hansford, also run the local ambulance service for Random Island East. Chris Hansford said, as the storm hit Tuesday, emergency medical services had been limited to what they were able to provide. “We were on our own in that, if anything came up, we couldn’t get a chopper in,” he said. “That’s changed now.”
Helicopters were able to reach the area Thursday. One helicopter was called to take a woman from Lower Lance Cove to St. John’s for dialysis. “She needed to get in today,” Hansford said. “She’s on four times a week, so she had to get in.”
While Random Island is cut off from the mainland, the communities on the island remain disconnected from each other, as a result of road washouts. Even so, pickups and ATVs are on the roads in the isolated areas. Having repaired a pump, a gas stop opened and within minutes had a long lineup backing up the road — 26 cars and trucks as well as three large ATVs.
Route 231 connecting the small communities, as well as side roads running off of that main vein, are washed out on both sides. Shovels full of dirt have been thrown on the pavement, creating dotted lines at the edges to help guide drivers away from weak shoulders.
Debbie Holloway and Dean Taylor used the guide to help them get two relatives, visiting when the storm hit, from their home in Brittania to the wharf in Hickman’s Harbour. They had planned to drive to St. John’s to say their goodbyes at the airport Wednesday, but instead spent the day waiting at the wharf, hoping to catch a boat out. They couldn’t get a boat Wednesday, so they returned to the wharf Thursday morning. They managed to hop a crossing mid-morning.
“It was pretty scary for awhile,” - Olive Vardy's granddaughter Amanda Parrott
“Today was the day we needed to get them there,” said a relieved Taylor, adding they had to make the flight or they’d be out the cost. He said Holloway’s daughter, who lives in Clarenville, would meet his relatives on the other side to drive them to St. John’s.
As of Thursday night, Taylor said, the most pressing concern was fixing the roads between communities to and from Hickman’s Harbour to the causeway. Hopefully, he said, by then the causeway will be open, with
the island road reconnected to Clarenville on the mainland.
He joked about his exchanges with people out walking the roads. “Everybody asks where you’re coming from. As soon as someone says ‘Clarenville,’ they’re all going to do backflips,” he said.
afitzpatrick@thetelegram.com
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