Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 238
DOMINICA the Nature Island, needs our help Hurricane Maria Relief Request from Cocoa Cottage Dominica
Greetings from Dominica, To all of our friends, family, past and future clients and guests, those who know us, and those who have yet to meet us. It is with heavy hearts and minds that we write to you this day. As you probably already know, Dominica was hit hard by the Category 5 Hurricane Maria. She destroyed the island; and anyone living on the island has been heavily impacted by her force. Most homes are missing roofs at the very least. We ourselves lost roofs on both Cocoa Cottages and Extreme Dominica buildings. All furnishings and equipment that remain are wet and impossible to dry out due to the continuing rains, and lack of materials to begin rebuilding as of yet. Most roads were covered by fallen trees or by landslides. This storm spared NO ONE and NOTHING stood in its way. Small streams became raging rivers, waterfalls became landslides. You would not recognise the landscape. The rain-forest is no longer a forest, but instead a grim land of defoliated trees. Palm trees that remain are spires rising up leafless to the sun. We wonder where the Jaco and the Sisserou went. The heat is unbearable without the shade of the rain-forest.