TWO families of Mohammed Street, St Augustine were counting their blessings on Friday for escaping injury or worse after a retaining wall and a large amount of soil from one home crashed into the neighbouring home, rendering both families uncertain as to where they would spend the night.
The disaster came after a day of very heavy rainfall, following a 5.6 magnitude earthquake on Thursday, perhaps worsening the stability of the wall.
Aquimer Charles and Dowders Charles suffered severe damage to their apartment (rented from her aunt) and loss of their electrical appliances, furniture and foodstuffs when their neighbour's retaining wall crashed onto their home.
Conversely, neighbour Indra Chaitan not only had to worry about the damage to her neighbour's house and her own yard, but was also in fear of a sudden loss of more earth that could collapse her own house.
Amid their angst, however, both families drew comfort from the prompt visits of several public agencies to help.
Aquimer told Newsday, "Even though I may look calm, I'm still shaking."
She related, "We heard a noise. We grabbed the baby off the bed and everyone got off the bed. I grabbed the baby in time."
A piece of wood had burst threw the wall to meet her face to face, she related.
"The kitchen ended up in the bedroom and living room.
"I ran out at the back and saw the neighbour's whole wall onto the house.
"The neighbour's car was about to tip, but they hoisted it and got it back into their compound."
Newsday asked if the earthquake and rains had caused the wall's collapse.
"If I'm being honest, the wall wasn't sturdy enough. The wall was built a while but they were packing dirt and had work going on. They had work going on there, excavated stuff and so on, and all of that could have contributed to why the wall came down."
She said she had reported the accident to the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation (TPRC) which had contracted the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) which had sent staff.
"Disaster (ODPM) came up. The councillor came up and the chairman (TPRC head Kwasi Robinson.)"
She did not know how they would cope that night, being out of a home. "I have five kids and my husband."
Aquimer said a member of the neighbouring family had just visited Councillor Corey Selvon.
Asked about any feedback from the neighbour, she said, "We didn't have any discussion as yet. I don't know what."
On her losses, she said, "I lost everything inside my house. Beds, fridge, stove, tv, microwave. Everything you see in my house mash up because everything come down. Everything. Everything."
[caption id="attachment_965057" align="alignnone" width="946"] Aquimer Charles speaks to Newsday on Friday after a wall fell on her house during bad weather earlier that day. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
Dowders said, "Right now I don't know what to do because we have nothing. We have basically nothing.
"We are
