HURRICANING!

So you’re in a hurricane…what are your plans?
a) prepare all shutters and doors and lock yourself in
b) take a shower because you know you may not be able to for up to a week because water will be off
c) charge all electrical items knowing power will definitely be off
d) go for a walk

Answer: D!

I have officially played witness to my very first hurricane! Hurricane Earl hit the island of St. Maarten at a category 3 and moved up to a category 4 while on the island.

It’s pretty crazy in the days before the storm. The island is a fury of work…everyone is preparing; work places are closed, people buying food and supplies, boarding up windows and doors. At Ocean Explorers we moved everything from the shop into a safe storage container and then built support beams for the shop. We actually had chains holding the roof on!

Once everything is ready all you can do is wait. In the evening before the hurricane hit it was incredibly eerie…no animals or birds were out, the island was quiet, everything closed and boarded up, and the kind of “calm before the storm” weather you see in movies.

By the time the hurricane hit we were already pretty bored. You are stuck inside with no power or water so usually you just have bunches of people hanging out together for four days. We had the eye pass directly over us and I have to say that was the weirdest part of the whole thing. It was as though the whole island was holding its breath waiting for the next set of rage and when that rage hit…wow. Shout out of respect to mother nature. Racing winds and flying debris made it certain adventure to step outside. But we did manage to go for a couple of walks. On one we found a stray dog who we adopted as our “hurricane dog” aptly named Earl. Earl hung out with us for the hurricane period and then was let back out after it had passed.

Post hurricane was another adventure. The island goes in to “lockdown”, a period of time where even though the storm had passed you are not allowed out of the house. Anyone caught outside can legally be shot on the spot by a police officer, no questions asked. This is because much of the island has been damaged including shops. It is a prime time for looters to take advantage. After lockdown was lifted that’s when the rebuilding began. It took a couple of weeks for things to return to normal. Our shop faired pretty well all things considered but it was as though the storm shifted it just slightly so now all of our windows and doors don’t shut properly. The running joke is that we needed another storm to shift it backl!

Here are a few pictures from the hurricane Earl...