Maria

This week....tropical storm Maria! Just a T.S. (Tropical Storm) as of now, but it is restrengthening and slowing down.. and headed right for the USVI's.. we may be out of touch again this weekend!

Thanks Irene :-(

The beautiful arch that Geoff had been working on - ruined.

Trees are still standing, but not the stove...

Goodbye eggplant bushes...

We made it through Irene safe and sound. Unfortunately, our plants didnt.

It really was a surreal 24 hours - the storm kicked in around 6pm on Sunday night (St. Croix was on lockdown curfew as of 6pm), and I was even on skype with mum at the time... by about 8pm, the winds had picked up so much that we had to bring everything inside - our BBQ, motorbike parts, furniture etc. Water was coming through our shutters, so we had to pull all the computer parts away from the window area.

The generator was going non-stop until 2am, when it died on us, and after several attempts at fixing it, Geoff wasnt able to so gave up and went back to sleep.

The next morning, the skies had cleared but the wind was still really strong. I took the day off but Geoff went to work - the roads were very quiet... as we didnt have running water, I "showered" in our pool, where I even washed my hair.

After an announcement was made on the radio that water and ice supplies were running really low, I made a beeline to the grocery store to pick up a few gallons of water.. there was only about 12 left on the shelves. As for ice, it was already all sold out. Generators - same deal.

After about 28hours with no power or water, we finally got it back - and were lucky that only our dairy in the fridge had gone bad by that stage.

Its kind of worrying to think what may have happened if the storm had've been bigger. For an island that has lived through Hugo, with 6 -12 months no power, no fresh food, months of looting and violence as a consequence of such a big hurricane, it really surprised us to see that St. Croix was not more prepared. Sure, Irene was nothing compared to Hugo, but it could've been, and 12 hours after it hit, there was barely any drinking water left available? We've learned our lesson with not relying on a generator or doing a grocery shop a day before a big storm, but hopefully St. Croix will learn theirs too.

Watch out St. Croix

It is eerily quiet this morning. If it wasnt for the weed-wacker, I think I'd still be asleep. The birds are quiet. The trees arent even swaying in the wind. The sun is shining but I'm not hearing any cars starting up for a beach day.

Irene: due to hit St. Croix today, late afternoon or evening. This is going to be a big one, and possibly build up to a hurricane by the time it reaches Puerto Rico. They're predicting 7-10inches of rain for us, with 20 inches by the time it reaches Haiti. Poor guys, they cop every one bad.

If we're out of cell phone/internet touch tonight, you know why. Keep your fingers crossed that our crops wont be destroyed!!

Tropical Storm Emily

The last six days, Caribbean islanders have been holding their breath, watching the forecasts and getting everything strapped down and prepared for Emily - the first of the major storms/hurricanes of the season.
My friend Vicky, who lives on a boat together with her boyfriend in a Marina, took the last week off from work to get everything ready in case of a hit, and locals have been swarming to supermarkets to stock up on canned and dried foods.
Let the season begin.




***Update*** Emily passed south of us, giving St. Croix a wild night of thunder, lightening and LOTS of rain. Fortunately nothing was destroyed other than our basil plants.. our pride and joy :-( 
Haiti, unfortunately lies directly in Emily's path.

Frederiksted during Earl

To the west of us lies Frederiksted, a small sleepy fishy town... far from sleepy today, locals were out and about braving Earl and checking out just how rough the ocean got...even some boats got stranded!

Driving in Earl..

Click on the picture to see what the driving is like during a small hurricane!

Hurricane Earl

Earl has now reached a Category 4.. thankfully the worst of it has passed us and now we're just on the watch for Hurricane Fiona (due to reach us around Thursday). Thankfully our landlords have a generator so at least we've been able to watch a couple of movies and keep our food refrigerated.

Something to add to the shopping list though: battery operated fans!