When life gives you storms you…

Tomorrow Michelle and I and all of us on the island of Jamaica will be hunkering down as tropical storm, soon to be, hurricane Sandy will be making an unexpected and most un-welcomed visit. Its strange because Saturday, we got caught outside in a storm waiting for a bus and taxi and the only thing I can say is that it was humbling. I had never been outside with such heavy rainfall and the loudest, the brightest lightning, and the most earth shattering thunder. Thankfully a bus driver we knew picked us from the tiny shelter we stood under on the side of the road. I had grown up with these kind of storms but it’s been awhile can’t imagine what this will be like.

So yeah…bit nervous about this storm. Now Michelle and I are in a safe place. Probably won’t have internet for a couple of days, probably won’t have power, and probably will be eating can food, but really, that’s not what i’m concerned about. What really worries me is how much damage rain can do here when the infrastructure isn’t strong enough to deal with major storms (and by here, i’m speaking specifically the area we live in).  The storm is big and moving slow. Thankfully it’s not that strong but lots of rain can be just as if not worse for the island.

What’s amazing though is how calm the island feels, business as usual. I’m still at work right now but people are still here. I went to the store earlier, no crazy lines to buy supplies. It’s strange. If this was Hawaii, people would be dominating every store, gas station, and road. I told my host family that a hurricane was coming, they just shrugged their shoulder. In some strange way, this is calming to me. I need this. I really hope this island mentality of dealing with this storm is a good thing. We shall see.

For the most part, we have been very lucky when it comes to storms this season (dodged a couple), but this time…it’s unavoidable and inevitable. We will be trying to stay dry and will keep you posted when we can. You can check our twitter feed on the right to get the latest updates of the storm and how we are doing. Take care of everyone. Just wanted to keep you updated.

—

Some more pics of the storm. Notice how the path projections go straight north through Jamaica. The second one is another satellite pic.