We borrowed a generator from a friend’s cousin and her husband in Kingston, so we connected our Starlink to get back in touch with the rest of the world.
Beryl was nothing compared to Melissa. Beryl was three hours of rain and wind, whereas Melissa was almost three days of wind and rain. 😩
Some of the roads we’ve travelled along look war-torn, with massive craters dividing them. Some of the resorts in the area have closed indefinitely while they review the damage and plan a rebuild.
Local landmarks like Eggy’s and Pelican Bar have been completely flattened, and their owners are seeking the resources to rebuild.
We’ve seen helicopters dropping off aid, and vans delivering water to the locals.
Our home still had some water in, even though we had boarded up the windows, because the winds were so fierce. Sherni’s (our female dog’s) house flew out of its concrete base and ended up in our fence. That’s only part of the damage our yard has suffered.
Sam’s studio is fine, and the shop still stands, although the bar and dining area in front of it are askew right now. We’ve been told the engineers are reviewing everything to determine how to secure things.
One of the silver linings to this experience is that I’m inspired to write a book about our experiences dealing with two hurricanes in the three years we’ve been living in Jamaica. 😉
Generators are sold out across the island. We’re trying to get one that will power our water pump so we can have running water, but that may take at least a month to import. 😕
The crazy thing I’ve been thinking about is that hurricanes are becoming more powerful and devastating because of climate change. The gas and oil industry is responsible for a significant share of the CO2 emissions contributing to the drastic environmental changes we’re witnessing.
It’s maddening to see that the lineups for gas for vehicles and generators are incredibly long, sometimes running out of gas, and still perpetuating the problem. 😒