The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AN Abaco father said he lost his two daughters to Hurricane Dorian after the monster storm ripped the roof off the church in which they had sought refuge.

The evacuee, who asked to be identified as Mr Gibbs, told The Tribune that he still has haunting nightmares about the ordeal. He was speaking as the Mother Pratt Foundation handed out food and clothing to Dorian evacuees. “I know most people are saying that storm is like eight weeks out, but for people like myself it’s just like it happened yesterday. Because just about every night you relive it, especially if you lost a loved one like me,” said Mr Gibbs.

“I lost my two daughters in the hurricane and…. it’s like I keep seeing the images in my mind. Everything reminds me of them. If I hear their favourite music…if I’m in the store and I see their favourite foods, I can’t walk through the aisle because everything reminds me of them.”

Mr Gibbs said his two daughters, aged eight and 17, were always full of life.

“They loved life and they were looking forward to the future. They loved each other and my oldest daughter was always hugging and kissing on my youngest daughter. And me too because I was always with them. I taught my daughter how to cook and wash and everything,” he said emotionally.

And before Dorian hit, Mr Gibbs said his youngest daughter had just started ballet classes during the summer.

Meanwhile, his eldest daughter was preparing to begin a new chapter of her life at the University of the Bahamas.

But, although the future looked promising for the Gibbs clan, nothing could have prepared them for the fury of Hurricane Dorian.

Like most storm victims, Mr Gibbs said he decided to ride the storm out with his daughters in an Abaco church.

“With every storm that came, we always rode it out in the church… (but) the building was torn apart piece by piece. I was with my two girls and first, we were trying to get in the ceiling. It was seven of us in the church and (some) went up in the ceiling,” he said.

“I never saw those three people no more… and so I was in the water just swimming and I was protecting my daughters because my arms were around them and I saw this stack of plywood just came through the side of the building.

“I said I was going to keep all the debris that was coming. I was going to keep them off of my girls. My oldest daughter was holding my youngest daughter… The next thing I remember that I was coming in and out of consciousness under the water. I was already giving up.

“But something deep inside me said I had to save my girls and that’s when I remembered my girls…. I struggled and I went in the ceiling and just before I went to reach over. . .two seconds, the whole roof went off.”

After the roof collapsed, Mr Gibbs said he never saw his girls again.

Trying to cope with life after Dorian took his precious daughters has not been easy for Mr Gibbs. But, he credits God for helping him to get through the ordeal.

“More and more, I miss them every day and I’m always talking to God and praying. (But) my faith in God is what’s helping me because that’s the only thing that could help me and so I’m taking one day at a time,” he said.

Mr Gibbs said he plans to honour his daughters, who both loved animals, by creating a foundation for the betterment of animals in the country.