THE granddaughter of two former Andover residents who now live in Dominica has launched an urgent plea to rescue them from the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Maria

Tina and Joe Henry lived in Andover for around 40 years before moving back to the small Caribbean island in 1996.

Since the category five hurricane “obliterated” the island on Monday, 18 September, the couple, both 82, have been left in the middle of a disaster zone.

Their back porch has disappeared, their roof destroyed, and with the government expecting no electricity, and limited food and water for the next six months, granddaughter Terri Henry is appealing to old friends of Tina and Joe to raise £3,000.

This would be to repair their roof, but also to get them to Andover by the end of the month as the area is currently 'uninhabitable', and help other family members.

Terri, herself brought up in Andover, said: “My grandparents were well loved people in Andover and I'm sure many of their friends would be willing to make a donation if they knew of the situation.

“A lot of people have already been evacuated and everyone is just trying to do what they can for people they know. This campaign is very personal as they are my grandparents I want to help people help them.”

When the British citizens were bringing up their four sons in Andover, Joe was a bus driver while Tina made furniture in Enham, and organised trips to watch Arsenal play football.

The couple’s Dominican house, which Tina named The Arsenal Lodge, has now been seen by surveyors who said if the hurricane lasted a further five minutes, their roof would have been completely blown off.

Terri said: “They were really lucky, all my other friends’ houses are just flat. We’ve got someone looking at their roof now and it might be the case we have to ship over materials because everyone’s roof is gone.

“I spoke to my grandparents yesterday [Wednesday] and they received rations - two packets of tuna, condensed milk, corned beef, a pack of pasta and two bottles of water.

“They have no idea how long that will last for or when the next lot will come.

“The lines for the supermarket are just insane, you have to queue for three hours and they can’t do that, they’re 82.”

Initially through first text messages, Tina and Joe told Terri that they didn’t want to be evacuated, but by the time Terri was able to call them a couple of weeks later, they told her: “We want to leave, we have to leave, it’s not habitable here.”

The United Nations has found in its response efforts that 90% of Dominica’s homes have either been completely destroyed, badly or partially affected.

Terri and her two children Amarii, eight, and Keeyah, nine, are also among those stranded as they were in the UK on holiday when the storm struck their home.

The 40-year-old moved out to Dominica in 2004 after visiting her grandparents and “fell in love with the place.”

But now, they have heard their home is flooded, Terri’s eco-business is destroyed and they cannot return.

The mother-of-two, born in Salisbury, said: “I’ve cried so much I can’t cry anymore.

“We were supposed to be going home on 26th October but now we are stranded, trying to find a school, house, work, everything.

“I got up early on the Tuesday morning and first thing I saw was it was a category five hurricane and it was only supposed to be category three.

“I was devastated I was on the phone to my mum screaming.”

But Terri admits some luck given that unlike some, she is able to stay abroad while Dominica starts from scratch.

She said: “It is a lottery where you are born, I was born here but a lot of people I know can’t just leave.

“I’m really very lucky so as I’m here I want to help people that don’t have this. I’ve got to do this for people that aren’t so lucky.”

To help Terri rescue her grandparents and bring them back to Andover, donate to generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/tina-and-joe-repair-rescue-fund.