WITH nothing left but the clothes on their backs after lightning struck their two-bedroom wooden house at Chinese Village, La Brea, setting it on fire, the George family is pleading for help to rebuild.

Kevon George, 39, a part-time construction worker, said he and his wife Shevaughn and their three children, ages, four, 12 and 16, are temporarily housed at Worship Centre Church, Point Fortin.

“Every time there is a service, however, we have to move out our mattresses and come back when the service is over.”

He said he received three mattresses from former La Brea councillor Gerald Debisette and his family was sleeping on them. He said he went to the office of La Brea MP Stephen McClashie and was promised someone would contact him.

“No one from that office has contacted me as yet,” George said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

George said on Sunday afternoon, his wife and their three sons were at home when the heavy wind and rain brought with it thunder and lightning which struck the building. He was not at home at the time.

In a matter of minutes the fire spread throughout the wooden structure, destroying their television, fridge, stove, microwave, washing machine, other electronic appliances, plus the children school books, bags and uniform.

“We could not save anything but, thank God, no one was injured,” he said.

When he got home, the house was already ablaze and the fire services were putting out the blaze.

“They explained the lightning is what caused the fire.”

George, a Guyanese national who has been living in Trinidad for the past 16 years, said he is awaiting the official fire report to take to the National Commission for Self Help to get some assistance.

In the meantime, he said, the three boys have not been able to attend school for the week. The three are students of a preschool, Brighton Anglican Primary and Servol, San Fernando.

“Right now, I don’t even have a pair of shoes. One of my friends gave me an old pair of slippers and that is what I am wearing.

“If I could get some help to get back uniforms and books for the boys, I would be grateful, because I really don’t have any money right now to buy back any uniforms.”

As a skilled construction worker, he said, if anyone can assist with building materials, he will be able to put back up a structure within a short time.

Anyone willing to assist Anton George and his family can contact him at 3727085.

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