13-16 October 2008
It was a Monday like most other days at the office. I was eating black beans for lunch; Bettina was offering pieces of her chocolate chocolate chip muffin to everyone and Justin and Marc were crunching on potato chips when Paul from next door waltzed in and asked,
"So you remember that stormed that passed though yesterday? Well, it has stopped and they say it is going to turn around and head back for us."
Immediately computers were switched on and opened to the NOAA web site. Yes, the storm was headed back our way, but this time he was not so friendly.
For the remainder of the day and most of Tuesday, we were in blissful denial. We just could not accept that a storm would pass by us only to come back again. By Tuesday afternoon however, reality was sinking in. It had a name: Tropical Storm Omar.
By Wednesday morning, Omar was predicted to turn into a Category Three Hurricane and the charter sail boats made the mass exodus to Paraquita Bay.
Back at the dive shop we inflated all the fenders we could find. Lines were drug out of the cleaning closet and everything that could fly away was taken off the boats.
By the time we finished the job, the boats looked like tiny flies trapped in a spider's web.
(As Usual, Justin gets all the fun jobs...)
Now it was time to pick up a few supplies for the home. As I drove along Waterfront Drive, I caught passing glimpses of other people preparing for Omar. Slice by slice, metal hurricane shutters crept across windows. The banging sound of hammers hung in the air as pieces of plywood were nailed up. Not only were they a lot of cars, there were also many boats rolling down the road. Somehow I managed to squeeze into a parking space and walked in the misty rain to the hardware store.
There were so many people in the hardware store it made my heart jump! Everyone was taking this seriously and were buying batteries, screws, caulk, tiny propane bottles, and coolers. What was odd, however was that everyone was so nice. I asked if there was any lamp oil and the sales lady actually went and looked for lamp oil. She came back with a lantern as that was all they had left. I almost bought it out of shear amazement.
The grocery store was the same. One of the shelf stockers had discovered she was unable to keep the tiny cans of Vienna Sausages on the shelf so she just dumped them into a cart and offered them to everyone who walked by. I gathered up my dog food, granola bars, sugar cookies, crackers and because it was a hurricane, I threw in a loaf of good old-fashion white bread. I already had chocolate and wine at home so it was time to check out. Even though every check-out line was full, I didn't witness a single West Indian cut ahead in line! It's interesting how impending disaster brings out the best in people.
Back at home, I was in charge of putting all the plants, chairs and tables from the patio into our spare bedroom and Justin was in charge of putting up the metal hurricane shutters. It was already raining with a brisk breeze so Pedro was locked in our bedroom, but Cleo was allowed to bounce around and get in the way.
As I was coming back and forth with my plants, I heard Justin mumbling something about wingnuts and bolts, but I just tuned him out and carried on with my plants, chairs and tables. A very short while later, I was again in the car headed back to the hardware store. Not enough wingnuts.
The street was a bit different now. We were bumper to bumper traffic and the rain was pouring out of the sky. As I inched closer to the hardware store, there was a line of cars waiting to fill up at the gas station which had stopped traffic altogether. I finally made it to a side street which I pulled into, parked and walked the last few blocks to the hardware store.
Now, the hardware store was eerily empty. There was not much left on the shelves, but I managed to find 50 wingnuts. Much relieved, I marched up to the checkout with my 50 wingnuts only to discover that the reason they were left was because they were the expensive kind at $1.49 a piece. I went to plan B and found some plain old nuts with washers.
By the time I made it back to the house, it was really raining hard, but Justin had everything off the porch and all the shutters in place. They just needed to be secured. Unfortunately, the nuts I had just bought were all the wrong size (which was probable why they were still at the hardware store).
After relating his adventures with the endless colonies of ants that were living in between the shutters, Justin decided he should take a shower. This was probable a good idea since he had been swimming in our nasty harbour all morning. Anyway, he was still in the shower when our landlord stopped by with a bag full of wingnuts for the shutters. HUMPH!!!
So the shutters were all properly bolted down and everything had been moved off the porch. There was nothing left to do but watch the rain and wonder what will happen next...
It was a long afternoon. What a terrible, helpless feeling to know a hurricane is headed toward you; that it will soon be dark and electricity will be turned off once winds reach 50 miles an hour! We consoled ourselves by eating sandwiches on delicious soft white bread. (Why can't whole wheat taste as yummy?)
We lost power at midnight. With the metal shutters blacking out all the windows, our home had become a cave with the front door the only opening to the windy world outside. We gathered around the flickering flame of the hurricane lantern and waited for the storm to pass. At 3am, the eye of category three Hurricane Omar was 35 miles SW of Tortola, but we were safe and sound inside our cozy cave.
Besides being more sleep deprived probable since college, Thursday morning was beautiful! The sky looked as if it had just been scrubbed clean and was now a sparkling blue without a single cloud. Today, all the work that was done yesterday had to be undone. But of course the vacationers were ready to get back to the business of vacationing. It was our student divers who called and woke us up early Thursday morning. However, we were unable to continue with their class because our swimming pool was full of dolphins! Apparently, that's what they do to keep the Dolphin Discovery dolphins safe during a hurricane. Unfortunately, the captive animals in St. Kitts didn't fare so well. Three Sea Lions escaped and were spotted here in the BVI a week later. Their chances for survival are slim. :-(
At any rate, my little family and I survived our first hurricane with very little, if any damage to the island. I am quite thankful I am not a captive animal, but not too excited about going back to whole wheat bread.
It was a Monday like most other days at the office. I was eating black beans for lunch; Bettina was offering pieces of her chocolate chocolate chip muffin to everyone and Justin and Marc were crunching on potato chips when Paul from next door waltzed in and asked,
"So you remember that stormed that passed though yesterday? Well, it has stopped and they say it is going to turn around and head back for us."
Immediately computers were switched on and opened to the NOAA web site. Yes, the storm was headed back our way, but this time he was not so friendly.
For the remainder of the day and most of Tuesday, we were in blissful denial. We just could not accept that a storm would pass by us only to come back again. By Tuesday afternoon however, reality was sinking in. It had a name: Tropical Storm Omar.
By Wednesday morning, Omar was predicted to turn into a Category Three Hurricane and the charter sail boats made the mass exodus to Paraquita Bay.
Back at the dive shop we inflated all the fenders we could find. Lines were drug out of the cleaning closet and everything that could fly away was taken off the boats.
By the time we finished the job, the boats looked like tiny flies trapped in a spider's web.
(As Usual, Justin gets all the fun jobs...)
Now it was time to pick up a few supplies for the home. As I drove along Waterfront Drive, I caught passing glimpses of other people preparing for Omar. Slice by slice, metal hurricane shutters crept across windows. The banging sound of hammers hung in the air as pieces of plywood were nailed up. Not only were they a lot of cars, there were also many boats rolling down the road. Somehow I managed to squeeze into a parking space and walked in the misty rain to the hardware store.
There were so many people in the hardware store it made my heart jump! Everyone was taking this seriously and were buying batteries, screws, caulk, tiny propane bottles, and coolers. What was odd, however was that everyone was so nice. I asked if there was any lamp oil and the sales lady actually went and looked for lamp oil. She came back with a lantern as that was all they had left. I almost bought it out of shear amazement.
The grocery store was the same. One of the shelf stockers had discovered she was unable to keep the tiny cans of Vienna Sausages on the shelf so she just dumped them into a cart and offered them to everyone who walked by. I gathered up my dog food, granola bars, sugar cookies, crackers and because it was a hurricane, I threw in a loaf of good old-fashion white bread. I already had chocolate and wine at home so it was time to check out. Even though every check-out line was full, I didn't witness a single West Indian cut ahead in line! It's interesting how impending disaster brings out the best in people.
Back at home, I was in charge of putting all the plants, chairs and tables from the patio into our spare bedroom and Justin was in charge of putting up the metal hurricane shutters. It was already raining with a brisk breeze so Pedro was locked in our bedroom, but Cleo was allowed to bounce around and get in the way.
As I was coming back and forth with my plants, I heard Justin mumbling something about wingnuts and bolts, but I just tuned him out and carried on with my plants, chairs and tables. A very short while later, I was again in the car headed back to the hardware store. Not enough wingnuts.
The street was a bit different now. We were bumper to bumper traffic and the rain was pouring out of the sky. As I inched closer to the hardware store, there was a line of cars waiting to fill up at the gas station which had stopped traffic altogether. I finally made it to a side street which I pulled into, parked and walked the last few blocks to the hardware store.
Now, the hardware store was eerily empty. There was not much left on the shelves, but I managed to find 50 wingnuts. Much relieved, I marched up to the checkout with my 50 wingnuts only to discover that the reason they were left was because they were the expensive kind at $1.49 a piece. I went to plan B and found some plain old nuts with washers.
By the time I made it back to the house, it was really raining hard, but Justin had everything off the porch and all the shutters in place. They just needed to be secured. Unfortunately, the nuts I had just bought were all the wrong size (which was probable why they were still at the hardware store).
After relating his adventures with the endless colonies of ants that were living in between the shutters, Justin decided he should take a shower. This was probable a good idea since he had been swimming in our nasty harbour all morning. Anyway, he was still in the shower when our landlord stopped by with a bag full of wingnuts for the shutters. HUMPH!!!
So the shutters were all properly bolted down and everything had been moved off the porch. There was nothing left to do but watch the rain and wonder what will happen next...
It was a long afternoon. What a terrible, helpless feeling to know a hurricane is headed toward you; that it will soon be dark and electricity will be turned off once winds reach 50 miles an hour! We consoled ourselves by eating sandwiches on delicious soft white bread. (Why can't whole wheat taste as yummy?)
We lost power at midnight. With the metal shutters blacking out all the windows, our home had become a cave with the front door the only opening to the windy world outside. We gathered around the flickering flame of the hurricane lantern and waited for the storm to pass. At 3am, the eye of category three Hurricane Omar was 35 miles SW of Tortola, but we were safe and sound inside our cozy cave.
Besides being more sleep deprived probable since college, Thursday morning was beautiful! The sky looked as if it had just been scrubbed clean and was now a sparkling blue without a single cloud. Today, all the work that was done yesterday had to be undone. But of course the vacationers were ready to get back to the business of vacationing. It was our student divers who called and woke us up early Thursday morning. However, we were unable to continue with their class because our swimming pool was full of dolphins! Apparently, that's what they do to keep the Dolphin Discovery dolphins safe during a hurricane. Unfortunately, the captive animals in St. Kitts didn't fare so well. Three Sea Lions escaped and were spotted here in the BVI a week later. Their chances for survival are slim. :-(
At any rate, my little family and I survived our first hurricane with very little, if any damage to the island. I am quite thankful I am not a captive animal, but not too excited about going back to whole wheat bread.
