Week Three: The Hurricane

November 1st-November 5th 2010

I woke up Saturday morning (October 30th) to high winds and rain. The power was out by mid-afternoon Saturaday and did not come back on for a couple days. The storm quickly turned into a hurricane, leaving no time for anyone to make the appropriate preparations. Everyone was advised to stay in their homes. All the businesses shut down so that the entire island could take shelter. I was a little frieghtened and nervous that I was experiencing my first hurricane, but everyone at the house helped to keep me calm.

I felt safe inside the house, but I could see that the hurricane was likely to do some damage on the island. The two skylights in our hallway at the house actually blew out, so it was pouring rain in the hallway all night. My host family and I put out towels, buckets, cushions, etc. to catch the water, but it still seemed to be seeping in everywhere. The doors to all three bedrooms as well as the bathroom do not close now because the water caused them to swell up. I tried to help with some of the cleaning once the hurricane passed, but it is hard to do it properly with no water.

Apparently the island has not had a hurricane since the 1980's! The hurricane that occurred nearly 30 years ago was considered between a category 4 and 5 because of the high winds of 150 mph. This hurricane was considered a category1 because the winds were between 50-75 mph. However, the slower the hurricane, the more damage and devastation that occurs. This hurricane actually cause a lot more damage on the island than the one that hit years ago. In fact, this is the worst disaster in the island's history! The most severe damage was done in the Southwestern part of the island (I am in the north), although all parts of the island were affected in some way. This hurricane also remained stationary over St. Lucia for a while which did not help.

Due to the mountainous terrain, there were also a ton of landslides. Bridges collapsed, houses were demolished, yachts/boats sank, roads were destroyed, and many people are dealing with a tremendous amount of mud and water damage. Many places, including the schools, are covered in goopy, thick mud. Some areas are not even reachable by road, so they are bringing help in by helicopter and boat. So far 14 people have been declared dead with a number still missing. Debris is everywhere, trees, cars, fences, leaves, garbage, roofs, and much more is strewn all over the place. I have seen large steel signs torn in half and houses with no roofs. It is hard to believe that so much damage can occur fomr one event. I know the men and women are working hard here to restore the island, but it will definitely take a lot of time and effort.

All the schools are closed due to the hurricane damage. Some schools are worse than others, but they all have been affected. I went to Monchy Primary School on Monday (Novemeber 1st) with some teachers to check out the damage. It did not appear to be too horrible, just a lot of broken trees, branches, and leaves everywhere. Many of the classrooms had mud and water in them , but the damage was not horrendous. Part of the roof started peeling up as well, but luckily it did not come off. It seemed to me that the damage could be taken care of before the week was over, but they cannot have school because many of the roads and bridges that lead to the school are down and therefore kids will be unable to get there. Also, the fact that there is no water plays a big factor.

I was also able to check out another local school to see what problems they were dealing with there. Although it is not a very prestigious school, it is newly built and has more protection than Monchy. However, they have piles beyond piles of that thick, wet mud everywhere. It was in the hallways, classrooms, offices, etc. and there was a LOT. I almost slipped a few times just trying to walk around in there. There was nothing any of the teachers could do yet besides start shoveling it up. However, they have no water to wash anything with and nowhere to take all this mud!

I have been helping to clean several different schools, but now most are at a stand-still due to the lack of water. I have been in continual contact with the teachers and have visited Monchy a few more times to make sure things are getting back in order. There will be a meeting this week to determine possible solutions to this problem. If school does not resume by Monday (November 15th), I will be able to help out and faciliate some tutoring sessions (especially important to Grade 6 who has the CEE in June).