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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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December
2006
Volume
11 - Number 3 |
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By Rich Timme I have been through quite a number of hurricanes, or at least preparing for them, but my experience with Hurricane Georges in 1998 served to drive home the danger involved. I lived on the island of St. Croix, USVI at the time and one remarkable aspect was the extent to which Hurricane Hugo had invaded the group consciousness of residents. Hugo was in 1989, yet still one could look around and see “FEMA roofs” or blue tarps on homes. When Cruzans discussed the economy, cruise ships, tourists or just about anything else, inevitably Hugo would come up. They would say, “It hasn’t been the same since Hugo.” This would turn into recollections of the martial law that had been declared, and how power had been out for months on much of the island. During my time there a number of storms had approached the islands, but none had come close to striking with any force. However when Georges formed it stayed on track and grew in strength. We told the home office that we were happy to ‘ride it out.’ However the next day the when it reached Category 4, and predictions were that it might hit us as a Category 5, it was time to go. A C-130 landed hours later and we jumped on while the propellers kept turning. A few hours later we had landed in Puerto Rico and had been put up in well stocked housing, prepared for the worst. As it turns out a slight shift in the track took Georges north of St. Croix and directly over Puerto Rico. The morning after we surveyed the damage in our neighborhood, which amounted to lost roofs, downed power lines and dented cars. We had come through fairly unscathed and were at a place that had planned ahead, and was self sufficient. Communications were lacking, but radio and satellite phones allowed critical communications to take place with other parts of Puerto Rico, although no word was available from St. Croix. Later that day I had the opportunity to fly over the island. The view from the air showed the real extent of the damage. The rains and storm surge had caused extensive erosion to local roads and highways. Our corner of the west end of the island was actually cut off as key roads were impassable. Flooding had washed out bridges and roads, and winds had destroyed homes and a number of industrial facilities all over the island. A day later and 8 more hours in the back of a cramped helicopter, and we had finished over flights of all of Puerto Rico and the USVI. Our particular conditions were bearable though. We had generator power, plenty of food and water and a close knit group of people to pass the time with. All of us were anxious to return to our homes, but transportation was unavailable. The C-130’s that had evacuated us, were all now involved with search and rescue and delivering aid to the hardest hit islands including Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was 5 more days before we were all able to return home. What we found was remarkably little damage, HUGO II had been dodged. Watching a Category 4 with the potential for Category 5 bear down on your little piece of land in the big ocean is really quite unnerving. Despite the last minute course change of the storm, and the inconveniences of evacuating, I’m forever glad that we did indeed leave. After this experience I was much more empathetic toward the local feelings on HUGO, and to this day am much more aware of my personal preparations during hurricane approaches. |