Our first hurricane experience.

On October 24^th in 2012, Tropical storm Sandy became a category one hurricane just before hitting Jamaica. As much as I love thunderstorms, I am also equally scared of them so I was pretty excited AND nervous when we first found out that we should prepare for this tropical storm. It was getting bigger and Jamaica was on its direct path. 

What I like about this kind of severe weather, is that unlike the other natural disasters, this one is predictable and you have time to prepare for it. This is what I did, two days ahead I went grocery shopping for dry food supplies and drinks. 24 hours before the storm hit Jamaica, it became clear it would be a category one hurricane. I was getting stressed since I did not know what to expect. Erik thought it would be better to stay at the hotel since we would lose the power and hotels normally have some generators. We had the amazing chance to stay at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston for 2 nights during the passage of Sandy. We really could not complain…living our first hurricane in the comfort of the hotel with some nice room service. A lot of Jamaicans did not have the same luxury, shelters were packed. The sky became darker and we had some rain but Sandy was getting slower and bigger therefore it only hit us the next day in the afternoon. The police also enforced a curfew, in order to keep everyone safe during the storm and also to prevent theft while power was out.

We were watching all radars and new information on our computers by the minutes. 

I kept waiting for it to be frightening…but nothing else than a lot of rain and winds. 

It still left a trail of damages and some of the eastern parishes were more affected than others. Sandy left behind destroyed houses and roads, and one death. 

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=40752

80% of the island was out of power, the electricity company, JPS, worked hard for several months to restore all the power lines. Being in the New Kingston area, we were a priority sector so we only were out of electricity for 72 hours or less. Here are some photos of damages seen in our neighborhood and in Port Royal.

After leaving Jamaica, Hurricane Sandy became stronger and then it transformed into a rare phenomenon; a Super-Storm. It affected the eastern states of America and even a little bit Canada. I found it ironic that the first hurricane I’ve experienced started in Jamaica and went all the way back to Canada. 

Overall, Sandy did a lot of damage everywhere and Jamaica still has to deal with its consequences.  Some of the beaches are to this day not the same as before. The agriculture industry was the most affected and struggles to produce from their damaged soils. The Jamaicans economy was already in bad shape…now it is more and more a problematic for different reasons including the famous Hurricane Sandy.

Electricity in Jamaica.

Electricity in Jamaica is not a reliable resource like in Canada. It is so unreliable that sometimes I think that as soon as darker clouds show up, I could lose the power. Haha, no but seriously just a little bit of rain or wind and we are often out of electricity. A big thunderstorm can make you lose all the food in your refrigerator. During the hurricane season from June to November, I swear I could lose power 1 to 3 times a week! Also, at night, if you’re up in the mountains, you can actually see city lights flickering. This is because the frequency of the electricity is 50Hz instead of 60Hz like in North America.

My best purchase in Canada was a 10$ USB fan shaped like an air plane. Available at Chapters stores ;). So when I did not have the A/C to help with the heavy humidity of a thunderstorm or a rainy day, at least I had this little guy for as long as my computer battery has a charge. The electricity company of Jamaica, JPS, is trying to improve those kinds of situations and cut off some of the trees in the way of the power lines…Now, I ONLY lose the power once or twice every two weeks, maybe more in the next hurricane season. We’ll see! ;)