‘Terrified’: Jamaican Workers in Mass. Lose Contact After Deadly Storm

HARDWICK — After three days without contact, Fitzroy Powell began to fear for his wife and two children in Jamaica.

News reports showed a once-in-a-century storm causing widespread destruction. Powell said he was terrified. The Category 5 storm flung 5 million tons of debris into the air, ripped the roofs off 120,000 homes and spurred landslides that cutoff 27 communities, The Associated Press reported.

"It turned the community to mush," said Carlton Bailey, a fellow worker from Jamaica.

Powell and Bailey, both from Manchester Parish in Jamaica, are employed at Still Life Farm in Hardwick under the H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural workers. The men, both in their 40s, travel to Massachusetts each year for nine months to work. On a typical day, they speak to their families back home several times.

After the storm, that daily contact stopped.

Finally, on the third day, Powell received a call from his wife, who had driven 20 minutes to another district to find a wireless signal. The connection was weak, but the sound of her voice brought him some relief.

Bailey had to wait another two days before hearing from his family. When the call eventually came, he was smiling with joy all day, said farm owner Halley Stillman. To reach a signal, Bailey's wife drove 30 minutes up a mountain, he said.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the storm caused damage to homes and key infrastructure, equivalent to roughly 30% of the country's gross domestic product .

"I was more worried about my neighbors," Bailey said. "My house is concrete."

Worcester resident Tony Thomas, 64, feeds goats and chickens on the Still Life Farm on Friday morning in Hardwick. As a sign of respect, he is called "Uncle Tony" by his fellow farmworkers. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook

Tony Thomas, known as "Uncle Tony" to his colleagues, moved to Worcester decades ago from Jamaica. He showed a photo of his sister's house in Manchester Parish, its roof partially torn off.

"She was lucky," he said. "A lot of others weren't."

The death toll from the storm has risen to 32, according to the Jamaican government's official website .

"We do expect that number to increase," Jamaican Minister of Education Dana Morris Dixon said earlier this week at a press conference.

In a couple of weeks, both itinerant farmworkers will begin their journey back home to Jamaica to help rebuild their communities.

"I've been keeping an eye on flights," Stillman said. She was concerned about how the government shutdown might delay the two men.

Stillman noted that it is bad enough that Jamaica has been hit by such a powerful storm, but for the men to be delayed from getting back to their families because of flight disruptions would be heartbreaking.

Regardless, Powell and Bailey remain positive, looking forward to long-awaited reunions.

Fitzroy Powell, 41, uncovers plants in the greenhouses on Still Life Farm in Hardwick. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook

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