As news of the category 5 hurricane’s destructive effect on the Caribbean was starting to filter through to the rest of the world, Penny Wilson’s daughter Fiona Campbell and her husband and two children were hunkering down in a friend’s home on the American Virgin Island of St John. Mrs Wilson said she barely slept waiting for news from her daughter.
"I didn’t sleep for about four nights. Helpless, I just felt so helpless, and all I wanted to hear was her voice."
She last heard from her daughter just hours before the hurricane hit and did not speak to her again for another four days.
It was not until the names of her daughter’s family were published on a website — set up so families could know their loved ones were alive — that she knew her daughter was safe.
While Mrs Wilson was feeling helpless as she waited for news, her daughter’s family were trapped inside their friend’s house, listening to howling winds as they reached almost 300kmh. In a letter posted to Facebook, Ms Campbell documented her family’s experience during the hurricane and the devastation they found once it had passed.
"People said hurricanes can sound like a freight train and I know what they meant. The windows were tightly secured, but even the wooden shutters were being coaxed from their grasp."
Trees were snapped in half like pencils, the hurricane leaving bare ground where there was once lush vegetation.
Once the hurricane had passed and it was safe to venture outside, they found the island they had called home for the past two years ravaged.
"St John is incredibly lush with dense forestation which, when stripped bare, reveals countless homes we never knew existed," Ms Campbell said.
The shock of seeing the devastation in their immediate vicinity was overtaken once the family saw the damage to their own home.
"I walked slowly around, taking in the loss of walls, doors and destruction.‘‘I sobbed for not only what was gone but for a family life that is no longer."
Once over the shock of the damage to their home, her attention switched to those living on the island who had not been so lucky.
"We are OK and have everything we need. But the island needs help. There are families without clothes, water, food and power. St John desperately needs generators, diesel, batteries, water and medical supplies."
Ms Campbell and her daughters Rae and Georgia are now in neighbouring Puerto Rico, while her husband, Justin, remains on the island trying to get the family’s affairs in order.
"From then we need to figure out our next steps and the next chapter in our lives."
Mrs Wilson said she was unsure what her daughter would do next but leaving the island would be hard for the family.
"She loved being on the islands — her soul is on St John."
• People wanting to make a donation towards helping the island recover can find the relevant information online at www.thestjohnfoundation.org.
