Moving Short Story - Maria Experience

Sept 17 2017- Tropical storm Maria was in the Atlantic a day away . We had just felt the furry of hurricane Irma who past just north of us and devastated the leeward islands of the Caribbean as a Category five hurricane. I am Dominican and Canadian. I am a media producer who has worked and lived all over the Caribbean for over 25 years. I also help run a retreat centre called Cappi Cottages a transformational experience centre on the island of Dominica. https://www.facebook.com/caapicottageretreats/ My friends on line were asking: “are you watching Maria?” And I assured them yes but it is just a tropical storm the worst it could do is become a category 1 in a day, so no need to worry. 11:00 am - Our friend and neighbor Nelson was up helping us move a bee hive off of one of our tent platforms and into a proper hive box for honey. We spoke about moving it out of the rain. We made a short video of the process and my partner Jessica and our teenage daughter were helping. Two years earlier we had a tropical storm hit Dominica. Erica come over Dominica and unprecedented water fell from the sky, 24 inches in 12 hours, it killed 32 people, washed away communities and set back the roads, bridges and infrastructure of Dominica about 20 years. We all reassured our selves this could not happen again so soon. But we should prepare all the same. To prepare for a tropical storm (35 mph winds) and lots of rain it is a good idea to bring everything inside and clear branches or trees near your building. Stay far back from rivers or even streams. And so we began. 2:00pm: We heard Maria was now a cat 2 hurricane and heading south of us. “A cat 2 in 4 hours WTF?” Now it is time to really trim the trees around our buildings and think about putting up some plywood o our windows. And so we stepped up the preparations. All the time reassuring ourselves that the worst was going to pass south of us between Dominica and Martinique. We should only get wind from directly east of us. Which is the strong side of the house and a little sheltered by a hills and National Park Mont Twa Piton a UNESCO natural world heritage site. The wind should slow down coming over these mountains. We will be fine. At 4:00pm We learned on line that Maria was now a Category 3 hurricane and still tracking south of us. I was on the phone with my brother reassuring the family that we would be fine that this is unprecedented and that it will pass south of us. We may be out of contact for a few days but not to worry. The wind was starting to pick up and it was too late to go to the village and borrow a ladder to get ply wood up on the out side of the second floor windows. So we have to put the plywood up on the inside of the windows. We had no choice? I have a handy battery powered drill. And we began dragging the ply up the stairs and screwing it into the window frames. I kept running back out to the shed and grabbing peaces of ply hopping they would fit and drilling them in franticly. 5:00pm : We are texting our family giving them a blow by blow account of the wind lashing the buildings. Earlier I had posted a video which outlines what to expect from each category of hurricane. At 3 you are in for lots of flooding and plenty of damage to the outside of your house. And many houses will loose parts or all of their roof. We were prepared for this. At Category 4 many structures fail and collapse sending building materials walls and everything ells up in the air. Strong buildings can remain standing with lots of exterior damage. My brother just texted me. That Maria was now a Category 4 hurricane and still tracking south of us. By this time it was far too violent out side to do anything ells. I just got up and started putting in more screws inside on all the windows. The reason there is no category higher than a Category 5 is because Category 5 means complete devastation nothing standing and no need to say any more. Just get underground or in a hurricane shelter and wait it out. Expect nothing to be the same again when you emerge, if you emerge at all. At that moment the cell tower went down, the power was gone and the roar of the wind was increasing. We could hear many large bangs as objects hit the building. I kept putting in screws. At lest 200 at this point. And we sat and waited. 8:00 pm. We are holding on to a little transistor radio with batteries. Trying to tune into a weak signal. When the voice comes over the radio calm and serious. “Maria has now become a Catastrophic Category 5 Hurricane the Eye of the storm is tracking right over Dominica”. Jessica and I look at each other and hope we did not just hear that. I asked “did you hear that?” she said “yes.. it’s a Category 5 hurricane” All hope faded from my person. I pretty much thought this would be the end. I always felt that if we were to have a Cat 5 storm we would go to a real hurricane shelter. I did not have confidence the house we built would with stand 200 mile an hour winds. But here we were and it was real and too late to leave. I knew there was nothing more we could do. But I did mange to put in another 50 screws into boards securing the doors. We had no choice. My Daughter lost it at this point. She started crying “I do not want to die” We tried in vane to console her. But she could see in both of us that our words were hopeful but empty. Like an airline staff telling you everything is going to be OK as they put on an extra seat belt and try to smile. We sat there for 4 hours waiting for the walls to collapse. The wind was coming directly off the ocean at the front of the building, our porch and weakest part of the house. We had a plan to go into the bathroom and put a mattress over us when the first wall would fall. I describe the feeling of a Cat 5 Hurricane with the following metaphor. Take you house put it on a flat bed truck with you and family in it. Drive the truck down a highway at 200 mph. Everything is shaking and it is Dark. Line the highway with Firemen trying to knock your house off the truck with fire hoses. Every crack is gaping and water is spaying in. Now! hold on this is going to last for EIGHT HOURS!!! That is what it felt like. 12:00 am Things start to go calm… no walls have fallen yet. I unscrew one of the doors and look out side. It is gentle. So I step out and look around with a flash light. Because it got calm so quickly I am aware this is probably the eye of the hurricane. I could even see the stars. I should have about 20 minutes to look around. I can see many trees are down the shed where I kept the plywood has disappeared. The GOOD news is this is the half way point and we are still alive. The BAD news is this is the half way point and we are still alive! I know that when the wind comes back it is going to come on quick and from the opposite direction. I did not linger too long out side. I came in and reported that There was some damage but we got through the worst of it. Only another 4 hours to go! The second half was much like the first we moved to the bathroom a few times thinking this was it! BUT The walls did not give and even the upstairs stayed on the house. We got off lucky. 5:30 am When we emerged at first light. Everything had changed. Complete devastation all around us. Every plan, every hope had been turned upside down. Dominica no longer exists as it was. It is now a new entity. There is a Pre Maria and a Post Maria Dominica. While the storm itself was terrifying the collapse of all infrastructure and everyone’s hopes and dreams and plans with it, is far more difficult. We got off easy with regards to the house. Many suffered far worse. 37 dead, whole families washed away 90% of the roofs gone and most of the businesses destroyed. We all share and feel this loss of our community. After the storm I went around with my chain saw and started opening up the roads and working with neighbours to liberate their homes. In the villages people were working together very well putting roofs back on and helping each other out. The Capital Roseau, unfortunately was another story the dark side took over. But lets be clear this was still a minority of people who acted out. The majority of Dominica helped each other cope. Dominica is on the front lines of climate change and we are among the first victims. The oceans are warmer and the storms are stronger and develop faster. What would have taken 6 days to develop just 10 years ago now happens in under 16 hours! Tropical Storm to Category 5 Hurricane! This is not a simply a story about a Category 5 hurricane…. I am sorry, but this is a story about your future and what is coming on a global scale. We in Dominica will build a new Dominica committed to renewable energy and resilience. We have no choice. Fort Mc Murray in the Alberta tar sands has also rebuilt after unprecedented forest fires in the north. Unfortunately they continue to invest in the oil economy. They think they have no choice?