‘They saved our lives’

LUCEA, Hanover — The lives of 79-year-old Elaine Smith and her three orphaned grandchildren were upended last October by Hurricane Melissa, leaving them at their wits’ end.

One year later, the non-profit organisation Hanover Charities has provided a ray of hope for the family.

The Category 5 storm left the elderly Smith with a heavy burden. It stole the life of her only son, who suffered a severe asthma attack during the ordeal, leaving her to pick through the wreckage of his shattered house and step in to raise his three grieving sons. The boys had already lost their mother five years earlier.