-Guyanese from BVI here to bury his father who lost his life to Hurricane Irma

MANY lost their homes and their livelihood after the Category Five hurricane Irma swept through the streets of Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI), but four families including Randy Ragnauth, a Guyanese lost something that cannot be rebuilt–a loved one.
“It was total destruction when we looked out after the eye of the hurricane came,” said Ragnauth who told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday evening that his devastation was hearing that his 55-year-old father, Derrick Ragnauth did not make it through the disaster.
Ragnauth, who has been living there for 10 years, was one of the ten Guyanese who arrived in Guyana on Monday evening as part of the Government’s promise to assist those in need.

Unlike the others who have returned to either recoup or start anew, the young man is here to bury his father to fulfill the family’s wish of having him laid to rest in his homeland.
“I am here to get things sorted out and get the body here because the entire family wants him here, then I’ll return and get my life back together,” said Ragnauth, who is an employee of the BVI Electrical Company.
When he returns, he said he would assist with rebuilding the BVI. He, however, reflected on what led to the need for rebuilding.
“When we heard about the hurricane, we went to my sister’s house because she has hurricane shutters,” said Ragnauth who was in tears.
They, however, underestimated the hurricane because they had faced many storms in the past and they realised this was different when a huge hole appeared in the front door.
Ragnauth said his family rushed to the bathroom but his father, who was a businessman, wanted to stay at his place of business, a few blocks away from the house, for reasons unknown.

In an effort to get protection from the fierce wind, Ragnauth said they hid in his sister’s bathroom for two hours until the eye of the hurricane (the calm) arrived. When the wind stopped, he recalled that they came out but the entire house was destroyed.
They, however, used that opportunity to go to a nearby concrete shelter for protection.
“Eventually, the hurricane passed so we went out to salvage stuff from my sister’s house when we saw persons coming from the direction where my father’s business is, saying that two persons died in that area,” said Ragnauth. The distraught young man recalled persons saying that one of the persons who died was the guy who had the business, so they went to check but by the time they arrived at the scene, his sister was in complete shock.
Derrick was a role model for his entire family because he moved away from Guyana 15 years ago to create a better life for his children, which was going well until Irma swept it away in one day.

Many persons from the island are reportedly in similar situations, said Ragnauth, who pointed out that in order to survive for the time being, persons were using tarpaulin in place of rooftops and other items to erect makeshift homes.
Ragnauth will however get assistance from the Government to bring the body of his father here. According to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, they were supposed to bring in the body already, but they had some logistical hiccups but he assured members of the media that they were working with aircraft owners to get the body in.