A WOMAN IN MT HORNE in rural St Andrew’s spent the night in her cramped downstairs where she previously housed her washing machine. That was the only place she could have found shelter after her roof was swept away by Hurricane Ivan. The neighbors could not have housed her either. Everyone's house in Mt Horne was without a roof according to the housewife and mother of two. The story of Grenada was a sad one Wednesday, after eight hours of raging weather blasted it back to an earlier time the day before. Before Tuesday, Grenadians of a past generation spoke of Hurricane Janet which hit 49 years ago as if it was the island’s D-Day. But for those who could compare the two, they said Hurricane Ivan rendered it a joke – even if the housing stock was better now and the people were more informed about the on-coming disaster. In the next few days, Grenada will have many things in short supply, including food, unless supplies from outside arrive quickly. But last night there were plenty tears. “It dread down here man. It real dread,” was how one man in rural St Andrew’s reached by cellular phone put it. He reported many houses in the rural village of Munich damaged – either partially or wholly. Hurricane Ivan affected Barbados, St Vincent and Tobago as well on Tuesday, but Grenada has been hardest hit. A report from the Barbados-based regional disaster coordinating agency CDERA said the capital St Georges suffered “incalculable damage” from the storm. Also according to the report, the Emergency Operations Centre and the residence of Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell were destroyed. Some people reached by phone late last night said some villages in St Andrew’s were effectively destroyed. A foreign based Grenadian diplomat said that he was told the majority of buildings on the island were without roofs. A report coming out of Springs and Grand Anse Valley in the south of the island speak of widespread destruction. In St Andrew’s entire nutmeg fields were washed away. “The nutmeg industry in Grenada is done for the time being. Every tree has fallen here at Birchgrove,” reporter Eujenny Mason said Wednesday. Mason went on an assignment early Tuesday, up to Wednesday afternoon, she was still stuck there -- not knowing how and when she would get back to base in St George's. “I can estimate that this country has been destroyed by about 85 percent. Our country is in total devastation and it will require a massive rebuilding effort,” opposition MP Kenrick Fullerton said. Official reports say three persons were killed, though local reports have put the figure as high as nine. The Associated Press reported that a family of three perished when their house crumbled under the weight of the wind and rain. But Fullerton said all those estimates are very conservative. “Out of Grenada I am sorry to say the news is not good. We have unconfirmed reports of 24 dead. I can confirm that there are four deaths only in my area (St Andrew’s South east). I can tell you that the death toll will rise. One man died in a shelter,” Fullerton said. “This looks like after a doomsday disaster,” he declared. "I can literally stay in one end of my constituency and see the other," the parliamentarian said. There also were unconfirmed reports that storm damage allowed prisoners to escape Grenada's crumbling and overcrowded Richmond Hill Prison. Officials at CDERA say they have also received reports of damage to the Point Salines International Airport The entire island was without power last night, and telephone services, mainly cellular service, were limited to some areas. There were already signs of desperation with reports of looting of major stores and shops in both St George’s and the east coast town of Grenville. Fullerton said the government may have to consider declaring a state of emergency. The Eastern Caribbean Donor Group is meeting at CDERA headquarters this morning to receive a detailed damage report which will inform their emergency response. The first aid was due to arrive in Grenada Wednesday. A one-thousand man army team of engineers from neighboring Trinidad was expected to get to the island late Wednesday. Trinidad has already pledged 10 million TT dollars to Grenada’s recovery. Utility restoration teams from the Turks and Caicos, Antigua, Belize and the Cayman Islands were also being sent to help with the restoration of power. "They (Grenadians) had about two hours of just hellacious winds ... took a really bad beating," meteorologist Hugh Cobb of the U.S. Hurricane Center in Miami told The Associated Press. Hurricane Ivan was the worst storm to have hit an English speaking Caribbean nation in more than 10 years. (This report was pieced together with the assistance of reports from Associated Press and Reuters). SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM