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Making light of utter darkness
published: Friday | August 24, 2007
Day Four, post-Dean and the whole Swiss Family Robinson/survivor thing is wearing a little thin.
Each time I walk into a room, I habitually reach for the wall to turn on the light. I am for a split second confused by the fact I am still in utter darkness.
My children protest loudly each bath time about the cold water, and I show little sympathy feeling they should be grateful I spent the last two hours running the same cold bath.
And, last but not least, there is no Law and Orderfor me to watch at bedtime! It brings to mind an alarmed caller to a radio show during the hurricane, "Dis a no category 4 hurricane, This is a category 6!!!"
While I have endured life without cable, I have been highly entertained by the high drama of a hurricane.
My husband braved the howling wind and rain to save our gate. I stood by the door like a dutiful wife, but inadvertently locked the door, unable to hear him knocking left him locked out in the middle of the hurricane, it was a tender moment!
After the storm, my friend and I stood watching as a group of 'real men' tried to move a fallen tree. We chuckled as a zealous man hooked his pick-up truck to a fallen tree that had trapped us (he clearly has been watching too many Tundra ads on TV). Needless to say, the tree did not budge but the pick-up did a highly entertaining jig (no, it was not a Tundra!)
My fun-loving neighbour got out his boots and an axe and chopped and chopped, stopping only briefly to strike a macho pose, until of course he tripped and fell into the gully!
Not prepared
We seem to always manage to make light of our circumstances in Jamaica and perhaps that is how we survive, we just laugh our way through!
Truthfully, Jamaica was saved when Hurricane Dean changed its course (we have all heard that pun a few times this last week) and we are all breathing a sigh of relief because last week Saturday we were faced with the likelihood of utter devastation.
The reality is we are not prepared for a direct hit from a hurricane, and the forecasts suggest that there are more to come. Yet, what makes a category-four hurricane feel like a category-six has a lot to do with the infrastructure and the lack of preparedness.
I suffer because I have to wait for power to return before I open my business while still having to carry the full costs of overheads and all spoilage. Unlike JPS, I cannot pass on the cost to my customers because I did not get insurance.
It is hard to complain when others are suffering because they have no water, no shelter, and have lost everything. Yet, we must be reminded that the hurricane did not hit us directly and it is really hard to imagine what it would be like if it had, but surely we have to prepare for it if does.
Slow progress
Clearly, the two major areas where we are affected, are water and electricity. Progress in both areas seem painfully slow.
When and where power will be restored seems to be an almost random thing. The more information we can get on the progress of the power restoration the better. If we could know what to expect perhaps we could plan our lives and be less frustrated by just waiting hopefully.
Assistance to the badly damaged areas needs to be more compre-hensive. Not only is water required, but so is proper storage for that water as most persons have nothing.
Shelters need to be hurricane-safe and properly equipped with food and even standby power and water.
Unless we provide proper care for those in desperate need after a serious hurricane, desperate people will resort to desperate measures.
If we do not prepare properly for the worst, if it ever does come, we will need much more than a public State of Emergency to help us!
Tara Clivio is a freelance journalist
published: Friday | August 24, 2007
Day Four, post-Dean and the whole Swiss Family Robinson/survivor thing is wearing a little thin.
Each time I walk into a room, I habitually reach for the wall to turn on the light. I am for a split second confused by the fact I am still in utter darkness.
My children protest loudly each bath time about the cold water, and I show little sympathy feeling they should be grateful I spent the last two hours running the same cold bath.
And, last but not least, there is no Law and Orderfor me to watch at bedtime! It brings to mind an alarmed caller to a radio show during the hurricane, "Dis a no category 4 hurricane, This is a category 6!!!"
While I have endured life without cable, I have been highly entertained by the high drama of a hurricane.
My husband braved the howling wind and rain to save our gate. I stood by the door like a dutiful wife, but inadvertently locked the door, unable to hear him knocking left him locked out in the middle of the hurricane, it was a tender moment!
After the storm, my friend and I stood watching as a group of 'real men' tried to move a fallen tree. We chuckled as a zealous man hooked his pick-up truck to a fallen tree that had trapped us (he clearly has been watching too many Tundra ads on TV). Needless to say, the tree did not budge but the pick-up did a highly entertaining jig (no, it was not a Tundra!)
My fun-loving neighbour got out his boots and an axe and chopped and chopped, stopping only briefly to strike a macho pose, until of course he tripped and fell into the gully!
Not prepared
We seem to always manage to make light of our circumstances in Jamaica and perhaps that is how we survive, we just laugh our way through!
Truthfully, Jamaica was saved when Hurricane Dean changed its course (we have all heard that pun a few times this last week) and we are all breathing a sigh of relief because last week Saturday we were faced with the likelihood of utter devastation.
The reality is we are not prepared for a direct hit from a hurricane, and the forecasts suggest that there are more to come. Yet, what makes a category-four hurricane feel like a category-six has a lot to do with the infrastructure and the lack of preparedness.
I suffer because I have to wait for power to return before I open my business while still having to carry the full costs of overheads and all spoilage. Unlike JPS, I cannot pass on the cost to my customers because I did not get insurance.
It is hard to complain when others are suffering because they have no water, no shelter, and have lost everything. Yet, we must be reminded that the hurricane did not hit us directly and it is really hard to imagine what it would be like if it had, but surely we have to prepare for it if does.
Slow progress
Clearly, the two major areas where we are affected, are water and electricity. Progress in both areas seem painfully slow.
When and where power will be restored seems to be an almost random thing. The more information we can get on the progress of the power restoration the better. If we could know what to expect perhaps we could plan our lives and be less frustrated by just waiting hopefully.
Assistance to the badly damaged areas needs to be more compre-hensive. Not only is water required, but so is proper storage for that water as most persons have nothing.
Shelters need to be hurricane-safe and properly equipped with food and even standby power and water.
Unless we provide proper care for those in desperate need after a serious hurricane, desperate people will resort to desperate measures.
If we do not prepare properly for the worst, if it ever does come, we will need much more than a public State of Emergency to help us!
Tara Clivio is a freelance journalist