A 79-year-old pensioner was injured on Wednesday after a tree collapsed onto a two-storey house and destroyed the upper floor, leaving several other residents displaced in North Ruimveldt, Georgetown.
Injured: Stamond Rawlins
The injured pensioner, Stamond Rawlins, was residing in the upper flat of the concrete and wooden structure located at Lot 3793 Beaver Street.
Reports indicate that he was at home when a massive plum tree from the nearby reserve crashed onto the building, causing him to fall from the top floor and injure his foot.
According to Cheryl Joseph, the sister-in-law of the injured man and the owner of the home, the incident occurred sometime after 13:15h.
She said Rawlins was trapped under the debris and had to be rescued by family members and Police Officers using a ladder.
The house that was destroyed by the falling tree
“His foot was squeezed in. They had to get a ladder and go down inside for him,” Joseph told Guyana Times.
The 64-year-old Joseph, who has lived at the residence since the age of 14, said that despite repeated complaints to local authorities about the overgrown trees in the area, no action was taken.
The house that was destroyed by the falling tree
The house is situated next to a reserve and an abandoned structure on an overgrown plot of land, densely populated with trees and bushes.
“You know how long we called and they never came, they never showed up,” she added.
Cheryl Joseph
The impact of the falling tree caused significant damage to the home, with the roof collapsing and household items, including a chair set, stove, gas stove, and refrigerator, being destroyed.
Eight persons lived in the building at the time: three upstairs and five downstairs, four of whom were children.
“I feel saddened, heartbroken, all kinds of things. I am stressed out… I don’t know… It’s really hard. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know…,” Joseph lamented.
“I was sleeping and all of a sudden, it creaks like it was a bomb or something. So, when I jumped up, my granddaughter said, ‘Granny, Granny, the plum tree fell down and fell on the house.’ And when I go outside, I saw the plum tree fall, and it was on the whole back of the house…”
When asked where they go from here, Joseph responded: “I don’t know, maybe we have to knock up something just to stay.”
As of 15:10h, when members of the media visited the scene, no ambulance had arrived, despite residents saying they had contacted emergency services shortly after the incident occurred.
