Tropical island report: Ivan the Terrible, part 3
Oct 18, 2004 08: 02 EST
With the Florida hurricanes fresh in memory, here's the final in the 3-part series by Peter "Fixman" on hurricane Ivan's recent visit to Bequia. Last we took off the Prime Minister Comrade Ralph Gonzalves reassured his people on the radio that all would be saved and after his reassuring words they would play Bob Marley’s "Everything’s gonna be all right" Then the PM was flown out of the state to a waiting British warship.
A lonely SMS: "Is there someone out there?"
For some strange reason I was able to communicate through he lightning and the storm with text messages. I didn’t know at the time that the messages would get through. It is obviously a one way communication. But what the hell, better than doing nothing...
It was like sending the final last words when doomed.
Is there someone out there?
Hello Ireland!
They did reach my friend in Ireland. It’s a wonder they could be read. Have you ever tried sending text-messages without specs in candlelight under the influence?
And then, when we were expecting things to get worse and we thought we were still far from the worst to come, the wind started to subside and by sunrise all was quiet and peaceful. We could once again hear tree frogs and the birds - and all that could remind us of what had taken place was the thunder from the surf down on the beach and the terrible mess of up-rooted trees and broken branches.
The garage was gone
The sky was as clear as I’ve ever seen it. I could actually see the mountains of Grenada, fifty miles away! The Island of Spices looked so tranquil and serene.
And the Old Fort owner’s cottage was still there but the garage was done gone. A chicken had blown into a fence and got her head through stuck the mesh, Mariann’s two ton Landrover hadn’t moved an inch and the sun was shining.
Damage assessment
So what’s the bottom line on damage assessment here?
My Swiss Chalet. Six roof tiles, my computer and half a flamboyant tree.
Bequia Beach Club Hotel is gone, two yachts in the harbor sunk, a lot of damage to houses in Paget Farm and the beautiful beach at Moonhole is now half a mile of rock and coral rubble.
Tropical island report: Ivan the Terrible - part 3
Good news; the infamous German beach-fence in Friendship done and gone, nobody died in the country as a result of the storm, and Miss Knights has made a fortune selling plywood. A lot of damage to the ramshackle houses on the "mainland" but Ralph has promised to rebuild them all.
Grenada is another story. The TV is up and running again today and the footage from there shows devastation on a horrendous scale. We therefore try not to talk too loud about how lucky we were in our encounter with Ivan the Terrible.
May the Gods bless Jamaica, Cuba and those poor battered people in Florida.
Image of a Bequia hut, courtesy domnik.net.
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