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21 July 2005 -- Thursday
High Temperature 86ºF - Low Temperature 78ºF
A simply BEAUTIFUL MORNING - full sun, blue skies, gentle breezes

What a Difffernce a Week Makes......
Though much, much remains to be done - especially in the Carriacou villages of Harvey Vale, Belmont and Six Roads,
what a difference a week makes after Hurricane Emily!
Last week, Thursday was the morning after the storm. Gloomy, a drizzle of rain was falling.
Today, the sun streams brightly,
The phone is working, including the high speed internet.
The electric is on.
The cable TV is back.
The Marketing Board is stuffed with fresh vegetables and other provisions.
Markets, supermarkets and shops are open as usual.
Preparations continue for our up-coming Carriacou Regatta Festival.
AND... so far this month I have had 13 Swim Days!
Not bad considering we've had a Hurricane and at least four Tropical Waves pass thru.

Reports from around The Grenadines
Seems that just Grenada and Carriacou took the full force of Hurricane Emily.
The Grenadine Islands fared much better, with perhaps just a few trees down,
but no other damage was reported on:
Petit St. Vincent, Palm Island, Union Island, Mayreau, Canouan, Bequia and Mustique.
Why not Come Visit us!
Warm breeeeezes.......


19 July 2005 -- Tuesday
High Temperature 86ºF - Low Temperature 78ºF
A simply BEAUTIFUL MORNING - full sun, blue skies, gentle breezes
EMILY Up-Date
 Yesterday was just one of those days. It all started soooo normal......
Electricity was restored to the Carriacou Internet Cafe on Friday evening.
The weekend was devoted to clean-up, washing, repairs and getting ready to re-open on Monday.
I opened-up and the first customer arrived to check e-mail.
SNAP!  CRACKLE!  PoP!
The wire that brings the electric from the post outside to the house had exploded and now dangled.
The electric was gone - so was the computer, so was the running water, so was cold ice.
So I closed-down again to wait for the repair guys from our one-and-only electric company.
Then..... the weather started changing from blue skies.
A tropical wave was coming.
While the maid Yvette cleaned the cafe, I noticed the sky getting darker and darker.
Light rain begain to fall.
Here we go again! The wind picked-up and the rain fell. More rain than had come with Emily.
Emily seemed to be mainly wind.
Anyway, all is well. This wave is passed and the blue skies have returned.
The guys came just before sunset and repaired the line so electric has been restored.
Ah...  just another day in paradise.

18 July 2005 -- Monday
High Temperature 86ºF - Low Temperature 78ºF
A simply BEAUTIFUL MORNING - full sun, blue skies, gentle breezes
EMILY Up-Date - 7PM
Local Carriacou Reports
<>7/17/2005 8:25 AM
Hi John
This I found on www.cdera.org

one love

Jan Baloo

 

Emily leaves 167 families homeless in Grenada and 2,641 roofs damaged
By NaDMA
Fri, 15 Jul 2005, 21:38
 

Situation Report #6

A debriefing session was held by the National Disaster Coordinator with all District Coordinators.  A full report was given by the Coordinator.  The under-mentioned reflects their preliminary assessment. A coordination meeting with all stakeholders will be held tomorrow to assess the levels of response of recovery activities.

 

NUMBER OF ROOFS DAMAGED BY PARISH

St. George’s

285

St. Andrew’s

1153

St. Patrick’s

499

St. David’s

126

St. John’s

151

St. Mark’s

77

Carriacou & Petit Martinique

350

TOTAL

 2641


 

Homeless  Families

Original # of persons in shelters

People currently in shelters

St. George’s

8

1192

72

St. Andrew’s

87

2521

279

St. Patrick’s

50

238

178

St. David’s

10

10

18

St. John’s

2

195

75

St. Mark’s

10

125

50

Carriacou & Petit Martinique

N/A

N/A

N/A
TOTAL 167 4,281 672

PRIORITY NEEDS LIST

- Tarpaulins
- Roofing material
- Food stuff
- Water cans/bottles
- Water tanks (for shelters)
- Basic household items eg. Mattress, beds, cookers, utensils

Coordinator
National Disaster Management Agency
Grenada


Utilities soon restored in Grenada where Emily has destroyed half of the housing stock in Mt Rich, St Patricks
By NaDMA
Fri, 15 Jul 2005, 21:35
 

As of 4:00 pm July 15, 2005 the situation relating to the impact and recovery efforts following the passage of Hurricane Emily on Thursday morning July 21, 2005 is as follows.

ELECTRICITY

GRENLEC reported the following:

  1. Power restoration to business places is be given priority;
  2. Power to Petit Martinique has been restored and Carriacou expects to receive service by 6:00 p.m. today;
  3. The south of the island will receive power in a few days;
  4. The Town of St. George is fully restored and Gouyave on the western side will be restored by 7:00 p.m. today.

RESPONSE

  1. Two aircrafts from Trinidad and Tobago and RSS respectively did an aerial view of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique.  The most affected areas were River Sallee, Soubise, Marquis and Telescope in the North of the island;
  2. There was one confirmed death in St. Cloud’s, St. Andrews as the result of a landslide;
  3. Some persons in shelters are now returning home;
  4. Supplies to the badly hit sister island of Carriacou including blankets, sleeping bags, flashlights and batteries etc. was facilitated by the Grenada Coast Guard;
  5. CDERA has been in constant contact.  Mr. Donovan Gentles of CDERA is expected in Grenada on Friday;
  6. Information was disseminated more rapidly with this event;
  7. The curfew hours has been revised to commence at 11:00 p.m. and end at 4:00 a.m.

HOUSING

  1. 50% of the housing stock in Mt. Rich, St. Patrick’s has reportedly been destroyed;
  2. Discussions were held with USAID;
  3. The technical team will be working on the western side on Friday 15th;
  4. Galvanize from India is expected to arrive by August. The Cadrona Geriatric home has already been re-roofed as a matter of priority;
  5. Some persons may have to remain in shelters for a longer period than anticipated since they have no homes to return to.

WATER

  1. The dams in North East St. George’s has been analysed and are all operational now;
  2. Water will be restored to the western side of the island by tomorrow Friday;
  3. Once power is restored to the badly hit eastern side the service will be restored there.

FINANCE

  1. The team is currently out in the field conducting damage assessment exercise;
  2. It has been noticed that the houses that were recently rebuilt better and stronger withstood the impasse;
  3. The agricultural sector has been badly hit;
  4. Infrastructure has not been badly affected;
  5. The financial sector has responded admirably.  They will be ready to operate from tomorrow Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

RED CROSS

  1. Contact has been made with the International Red Cross;
  2. Request was made for 10,000 to 15,000 tarpaulins, hygiene kits, jeri cans and first aid kits which are specifically for the shelters.  These supplies are expected to arrive on Saturday.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

  1. Based on a recommendation by the Chamber, business will resume as usual on Friday.

MINISTRY OF WORKS

  1. The roads on the western side of the island and St. Andrews have been cleared.

Coordinator
National Disaster Management Agency Grenada

7/17/2005 7:33 AM
Hi John

Here are some updates....I got by phone!!!

Pls. put some photos on your page….

One love

Jan Baloo(Babblud)

 

Carriacou: 200 roofs off..... 60 houses flattened.......

 

Most Landlines OK!

CW cell OK

Digicel Ccou out, but Union OK

 

Current back in town and northern part

 

Roof off in Lesterre:

 

Kenroy

Gibson

Sexy

Donia

Thomas

Givos

Noreen home

Tom shop (by Church)

Hardwood porch

Putty brother

Baloo garage 

Dexter’s mum house flooded

Cobra few off

2 util. poles by Cobra broken

 

 

Roof off Harvey Vale

 

Luciana

Fitzroy few off

Sally

Swampy Jo bar

Joann home

Georgina house above Alexis supermarket
Tanty Lissy

Scrapper

Paya and Theo,

Laqua,

Chris house going up the Catholic Church
Magaly house near Faithlyn

Marie house flat

Old rum shop badly damage

 

Tyrell Bay

 

Jerry barge and tug gone, but found 78 nm southwest

Alexiane tugged back

Alexia Car ferry tugged back.

Amelia tugged back.....

Yacht missing, stubborn foreigner OK!



16 July 2005 - Saturday
High Temperature 86ºF - Low Temperature 78ºF
A simply BEAUTIFUL MORNING - full sun, blue skies, gentle breezes

EMILY Up-Date - 12 Noon
The Carriacou Internet Cafe Re-Opens with Full Service
( Except the TV is out and ice is served only in drinks
all soft drinks come now chilled in the bottle with a straw )

EMILY Up-Date @ 08:30
We are okay here on Carriacou Island!
Electricity came back last night to Hillsborough, the main town on the island.
We lost the roof on our back porch here at the Internet Cafe
and a window in one of the bathrooms popped-out and crashed to the floor.
But other than that, we remainded dry and most importantly.... safe.
The full force slammed Carriacou around 12 Midnight - Wednesday night/early Thursday morning.
Not much rain but SEVERE winds - gusty winds that had just one idea, to create as much
damage as possible.

By first day's light, Thursday, the storm had finished with us.
Electricity - out on the whole island.
Phones - working.
For a few hours after sunrise, there was a light drizzle while people came from their homes
to walk around and see what had survived, and, what had perished.
Roofs gone. Large trees down. Debris everywhere.
A few hours later, the day cleared and Carriacou had another beautiful day.
Blue skies. Bright sun. A day perfect to.....
Let the work Begin!
Rather like a hive full of bees... out came the people of Carriacou,
neighbor helping neighbor.
The sound of hammers. The sound of sheets of roofing being piled-up.
Crews from the phone company and the electric company went to work climbing up poles.
Trucks full of young men drove up and down the streets, clearing the streets of debris,
and opening them back to traffic and to travel again.
Men on rooftops putting back the missing sheets of corrugated roofing.

Word began to spread that the Carriacou villages of:
L'Esterre, Harvey Vale, Belmont and Six Roads
had taken severe blows from Emily. Damage was widespread.
Reports started coming-in that the sailing yachts
anchored in The Mangroves on Tyrrel Bay had fared quite well.

On Friday, more of the same. Work. Work. And more work.
It began to look less and less like we had just had a major Hurricane.

If you have details of Hurricane Emily, please send me an e-mail,
as we have only rumors about what it's path really was and without TV,
we have very little information from the "outside."
One story had Emily passing over Grenada as a rather weak Tropical storm
during the day of Wednesday (see my dairy up-dates below) - only to then
strengthen into a Category 2 Hurricane, then change direction and
made a pass right over Carriacou.

I'll up-date as more information becomes available.


13 July 2005 - Wednesday
High Temperature 86ºF - Low Temperature 78ºF

EMILY Up-Date 6:00PM
The sky toward the north has a blue color appearing. Broken clouds can be seen.
No longer the slate grey blanket cover.
Instead of sitting, some birds are now flying, and chirping.
There actually is going to be a Golden Sunset this day.
Unless EMILY has further plans for us, all is well.... time will tell.
Original projections called for the EYE to pass before sunrise tommorow
- somewhere between Tobago and Grenada -
That's SOUTH from The Grenadines and further SOUTH than Hurricane Ivan passed last year.
( Remember in the movie The Wizard of Oz  )
when Dorothy opened the door to her just landed from the swirling tornado house,
and the movie then changed from black & white to full color? )

Check HERE for Up-Date.
Warm breeeeeezes.......

EMILY Up-Date 5:00PM
Nearly three hours pass with no wind and no rain.
Then....
The rain begins again.
The darkness associated normally with Evening Sunset takes over. But it's too early for Sunset.
Perhaps EMILY has life left in her yet.

EMILY Up-Date 4:00PM
Just a brief, light shower actually - before the sky brightened back to that strange, eerie slate grey look.
Rather reminds me of putting a yellow lens on a camera to bring-out the cloud details more sharply.
Is it too soon to imagine that we Have Dodged The Bullet with EMILY?
Larry, alias "Sauce", one of several of our street icons here in Hillsborough,
sensing perhaps an opportunity here with EMILY,
came to the closed door to ask for a dollar.
My normal reply is: Come and I'll give you work for the Dollar
It's rare should anyone ever come.
But being generous, I bagged the small change that acculumates in the dish on the bar and
Gave it to Larry.
Remember, we have year-round perfect climate here, getting down at night to 76°F.
Remember, food grows on the trees and in the gardens so no one goes hungry.
Being a street person here seems not all that bad, really.
Do you think he really has a Swiss bank account where all those Dollars safely sit?

Five or 10 youth have ventured forth back on to Main Street outside the Cafe.
Seems like skateboarding is today's favorite.
Neighbors are already gathering outside their buildings, in front of boarded-up windows....
laughing and telling stories while children play in the street,
Has EMILY further plans for us?

EMILY Up-Date 3:00PM
No wind and No rain for the past hour - but now the slate grey sky is starting to turn DARK.
It's started to rain again - just a drizzle really. Will it again be stronger rain with each passing band?
St. Vincent reported-in that  All is Calm  there.
EMILY Up-Date 2:00PM
Sitting here between rain bands.....
sitting here watching my neighbors nailing plywood over their windows...
sitting here in a calm period - no wind whatsoever moving outside -
though the sky remains slate grey, there is an eerie light rather like a brightness,
but the sky remains slate grey.
Is this perhaps the Calm Before The Storm we often hear about?

EMILY Up-Date 1:00PM
I heard the first "rumbling" of thunder in the distance around 12:30.
Rain is now coming in bands - brief and still falling lightly - followed by clear and calm periods.
The timing between rain bands is shortening with each pass.
The rain that falls with each pass is getting stronger each time.
The sky is slate grey and though it's middle day - it looks as dark as just before sunset.
The Town of Hillsborough has emptied-out and there is no one to be seen.
I've filled my containers with fresh, drinking water. I have plenty of water, thousands of gallons,
but the water is down inside the underground cistern
and when the electric goes out and takes among other things the water pump, and it surely will,
I won't have to bucket water from the cistern so long as the water in the containers holds out.
I have loads of candles. Thousands of good books to read.
AND THIS DIARY to write to provided we keep electric and phone.

EMILY Up-Date 12Noon
Shops are closing early. People are taking this very seriously here on Carriacou.
I've taken a walk around the property here and all seems in order.
I'll be bringing the outside plants inside for the evening.
Rain is now starting heavier.
I have closed the Internet Cafe.

EMILY Up-Date 9:30AM
Blue skies are gone. The sky has turned dark and a light rain is beginning to fall.
The storm is on the move.
The people here in Hillsborough are busy putting tape across windows,
nailing-up sheets of plywood over windows,
and the shop across the street has even laid sand bags in front of her door?!
EMILY Up-Date 8AM
Woke-Up to a Simply BEAUTIFUL sunny morning.
Blue skies.
The current thinking is that Emily...
will become a Hurricane as it's eye passes thru the channel that separates Grenada with Tobago.
Visit NOAA Website
This will put the storm SOUTH of The Grenadines.
VIEW Storm Path
I will post to this webpage as up-dates are made.


12 July 2005 - Tuesday
High Temperature 92ºF - Low Temperature 78ºF

On The Passing of Tropical Depression #4 ( Dennis )
As Tropical Depression #5 ( EMILY ) heads our direction,
it's time to comment on the Hurricane Season 2005.
As many of you who follow my writings here already know,
I like to take an hour of swim and exercise every day. Last week I missed two days on Tuesday and on Wednesday
due to the rain we received from Tropical Depression #4's passing.
Before that I had
121 Consecutive Swim Days
and the conditions were just perfect!

Our location here at 12°28.877N and 61°27.578W
closer to South American than the rest of The Caribbean
means that these storms are borne down here and as our babies go northward, they increase in strength
and become those Hurricanes that cause such damage and destruction to the islands north of us as these storms head for the USA.
But from our vantage point here, we receive little more than welcome rain that
fills-up our water cisterns, turning our islands brilliant green,
and waters our gardens that have been burning under the relentless sun.

Frankly, since May the weather here has been much more rainy than I remember from my past 15+ years.
We have had enough rain to keep most of our cisterns full-to-the-top. The rains come briefly, usually at night, and
the remainder of the days are full of sun. But as the weather that later became Dennis passed thru,
I must say that we had some days when we did not see the sun at all. Very strange.

Anyway, the sun is streaming thru my windows,
those fabulous Tradewind breezes are giving us our natural air conditioning
and the water is warm, clear and Ah!....... so inviting.
Why not Come Visit us!
Warm breeeeezes.......



Already had "the swim"
my hour of daily physical therapy really,
and the conditions were just
P E R F E C T
..... as usual.......
Our fabulous Tradewind Breeeeezes....... our NATUAL air conditioning
so it feels just the perfect temperature as I type this into the computer.
The swim takes about an hour and 1,000 strokes
and gives me time to unwind and relax from the hustle and bustle life
here on an isolated island with about 5,000 locals.
The exercise does the old body good.
And after all, there's not much else to do here
~ except swim. ~
After the swim lately I've been looking for sea shells - with mask+snorkel  -
and today I noticed a colorful shell on the bottom
so I picked it up and noticed
that it was really two shells that were stuck somehow together and when I pried it open
OUT JUMPED a tiny creature and
I knew at once that it was a baby octopus
and it squirted a tiny baby octopus cloud as it hurried
down to the sandy bottom and
immediatley out from view - burried itself under the soft sand.
I remember now a few weeks ago - perhaps a month ago - 
on the chain that anchors a buoy that I use as a turn
for my daily swim,
I noticed perhaps 100 tiny creatures
holding themselves in a tight ball around the anchor chain
and hiding in a bit of seeweed/grass that was growing on the chain.
I couldn't then figure-out what they were but now I know.
These tiny creatures were
Baby Octopus
right here in Hillsborough
Carriacou's Main Town
just down from the Main Jetty
just off the wide, white sandy beach
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A real Electric mini-cart vehicle is what we use on Union Island/Palm Island connections.
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Anchorage Yacht Club Jetty, Gateway to Palm Island
Depending upon time and amount of daylight remaining,
relax and have a cool, refreshing drink
at The Anchorage Yacht Club Hotel's outside bar.
Anchorage Yacht Club jetty - View to Petit St. Vincent, Petite Martinique
Then it's into the speedboat and a quick ride
across the channel
separating Union Island and Palm Island,
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Then it's just relax and enjoy your all-inclusive escape
as it unfolds: internet access, daily maid service, private cook who does your shopping as well, your own private yacht bobbing at anchor outside your door ready for a day trip to Canouan perhaps and 18-holes of champion golf. Relax...  it's all-inclusive, the house, the staff, the private yacht, the skipper, the hostess, the food and the drink....
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Ah...  another day in paradise.
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2005
Read John's On-Line Diary for June 2005
Read John's On-Line Diary for May 2005
Read John's On-Line Diary for April  2005
Read John's On-Line Diary for January 2005

2003
Read John's On-Line Diary for March 2003
2002
Read John's On-Line Diary for December 2002  
Read John's On-Line Diary for August 2002 Read John's On-Line Diary for September 2002
Read John's On-Line Diary for July 2002
Read John's On-Line Diary for May 2002
Read John's On-Line Diary for March 2002
2001
Read John's On-Line Diary for April 2001
Read John's On-Line Diary for February 2001
2000
Read John's On-Line Diary for December 2000
Read John's On-Line Diary for October 2000 Read John's On-Line Diary for September 2000
Read John's On-Line Diary for August 2000
Read John's On-Line Diary for June 2000
Read John's On-Line Diary for April 2000
Read John's On-Line Diary for February 2000
1999
Read John's On-Line Diary for December 1999
Read John's On-Line Diary for October 1999
Read John's On-Line Diary for August 1999
Read John's On-Line Diary for June 1999
Read John's On-Line Diary for April 1999
Read John's On-Line Diary for February 1999
1998
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