ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada Alfred Morain could hardly summon the words to describe what he experiences when he looks at his land filled with dead nutmeg trees, which Hurricane Ivan felled as it swept over this island with awe-inspiring winds three weeks ago, blowing away Morain's livelihood. . “There is real devastation in my heart,” he said Tuesday, surrounded by his wife and four children outside the wooden shack he calls home. . Like thousands of other nutmeg farmers and other Grenadans, Morain is struggling to rebuild amid the wreckage left behind by Ivan, one of the most powerful storms to hit the Caribbean and the United States in decades. . Although Haiti suffered hundreds of deaths, perhaps no island suffered more physical damage than Grenada, a relatively prosperous former British colony where tourism and the spice trade are the mainstays of the economy. . Now it is an island where the houses have no roofs and the streets are lined with debris. The winds ripped the tops off most buildings, destroyed churches and schools, knocked down most of the island's power lines and left corrugated steel roofing littered along the streets, like used tissue paper. . Looting broke out on the island after the storm hit on Sept. 7, damaging at least 90 percent of the buildings and leaving several thousand of the 100,000 residents here without homes. Complicating security matters, the warden of the island's only prison let all the inmates out during the storm. . But about 200 troops from neighboring countries were shipped in to help the local police quell the looters and track down convicts who refused to return voluntarily to prison. Only about a dozen convicts are still at large, said a police spokesman, Troy Garvey, but a dusk-to-dawn curfew is still in place, and troops with automatic weapons are still guarding banks in the picturesque city center of St. George's. . Government officials and aid workers said clean drinking water and food were still scarce on much of the island, despite deliveries of aid coordinated by the National Emergency Relief Organization. Most residents still lack electricity or telephone lines, they said. . All over the island, people could be seen putting tarps up to replace lost roofs and hammering together small frame houses that collapsed in the storm. The high winds and tornadoes spawned by Ivan destroyed the roof and stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, as well as the prime minister's residence and the governor general's mansion. . Several yachts were capsized and run aground in the St. George's harbor, a popular destination for sailors. Schools are closed indefinitely. At least 39 people were killed. . Prime Minister Keith Mitchell estimated the damage at more than $1 billion. The island's two main crops - cocoa and nutmeg - have been wiped out, and it will take at least 10 years to regrow the nutmeg groves. Most of the major tourist hotels were badly damaged as well. Several large airlines, among them Virgin Atlantic, have suspended flights to the island indefinitely. . The New York Times Homes and crops in ruins 3 weeks after Ivan ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada Alfred Morain could hardly summon the words to describe what he experiences when he looks at his land filled with dead nutmeg trees, which Hurricane Ivan felled as it swept over this island with awe-inspiring winds three weeks ago, blowing away Morain's livelihood. . “There is real devastation in my heart,” he said Tuesday, surrounded by his wife and four children outside the wooden shack he calls home. . Like thousands of other nutmeg farmers and other Grenadans, Morain is struggling to rebuild amid the wreckage left behind by Ivan, one of the most powerful storms to hit the Caribbean and the United States in decades. . Although Haiti suffered hundreds of deaths, perhaps no island suffered more physical damage than Grenada, a relatively prosperous former British colony where tourism and the spice trade are the mainstays of the economy. . Now it is an island where the houses have no roofs and the streets are lined with debris. The winds ripped the tops off most buildings, destroyed churches and schools, knocked down most of the island's power lines and left corrugated steel roofing littered along the streets, like used tissue paper. . Looting broke out on the island after the storm hit on Sept. 7, damaging at least 90 percent of the buildings and leaving several thousand of the 100,000 residents here without homes. Complicating security matters, the warden of the island's only prison let all the inmates out during the storm. . But about 200 troops from neighboring countries were shipped in to help the local police quell the looters and track down convicts who refused to return voluntarily to prison. Only about a dozen convicts are still at large, said a police spokesman, Troy Garvey, but a dusk-to-dawn curfew is still in place, and troops with automatic weapons are still guarding banks in the picturesque city center of St. George's. . Government officials and aid workers said clean drinking water and food were still scarce on much of the island, despite deliveries of aid coordinated by the National Emergency Relief Organization. Most residents still lack electricity or telephone lines, they said. . All over the island, people could be seen putting tarps up to replace lost roofs and hammering together small frame houses that collapsed in the storm. The high winds and tornadoes spawned by Ivan destroyed the roof and stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, as well as the prime minister's residence and the governor general's mansion. . Several yachts were capsized and run aground in the St. George's harbor, a popular destination for sailors. Schools are closed indefinitely. At least 39 people were killed. . Prime Minister Keith Mitchell estimated the damage at more than $1 billion. The island's two main crops - cocoa and nutmeg - have been wiped out, and it will take at least 10 years to regrow the nutmeg groves. Most of the major tourist hotels were badly damaged as well. Several large airlines, among them Virgin Atlantic, have suspended flights to the island indefinitely. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM