Wilma part 1

For those of you that have been with me a while you may remember back in Oct 05 we had this little storm called Wilma visit our little island. Wilma was not invited but we prepared for her arrival nonetheless. The day before she got here the barometric reading in the eye was the lowest of any storm ever taken. She was gonna be a big one and she was not moving fast which means she might just overstay her welcome. The islands inhabitants prepared for her fury but few could actually have known what it was really going to be like. It was going to be my first Hurricane. I had seen many come and go over the previous years but non had really hit us. This promised to be a new adventure for me so I wanted to make the best of it.
I posted this on Oct 20 2005. I added some pix so you could get a feel for what was going on in Cozumel then.


Okay! Here is the deal!! I have been fielding phone calls and emails from everyone for the last 2 days. It seems that it is the "not knowing" that is killing everyone so this is my plan! I am going to start an update journal! I will try to send out the info until the power goes out. I will give details on what is happening and how the island is doing. That way you can all know from an insider’s perspective what it is like to be in a hurricane. Should be good reading!! My friend Perry from http://www.cancunmap.com/ suggested it and I think it is a good idea. I will take pictures too and post them as well. Let’s see if this works out.

First update!!!

11:20 am Thursday

19 hours till predicted Wilma encounter.

The island has been doing the routine for one and a half days now. Everyone is in a frenzy! All normal work has stopped. The schools are closed and the shelves at the grocery store are pretty sparse. The sound or hammers banging as the plywood gets nailed on is all around. Traffic is heavy as people scurry about taking care of everything they need to do. Water, food, candles are all in short supply. The news is full of constant reports from the officials saying “run for your lives” or “we have this all under control”. It is no wonder the people are in such a state.

On a more personal note, Encarna and I have decided that Wilma is on her way and we are doing what we need to do. Our house is easy. Just a few windows and the wood is already cut. Just 30 min or so to set it up. We have water and lots of candles. We figure we need to loose a little weight so we did not buy any extra food. When the power goes out we will have to eat everything in the fridge anyway! Our water tank on the top of the house if full so it won’t blow away and we have tied up or knocked over anything that could catch a gust.

I have a nice feeling now. I am not afraid but I really don’t know what to expect. It is going to be my first hurricane. I hope I can still write at midnight. People say when the wind starts howling it is pretty scary. Like a freight train for hours and hours. All part of the adventure of living in the Caribbean. Not much more to do but wait and see if our preparations were enough.

I hope I can continue to send these out through the night. I think I will post some pictures on the website and see if I can create a hurricane Wilma page! If you stop getting updates that does not mean I am dead or underwater. It just means a tree has fallen on the power lines and I can’t send anything out. I hope to stay connected as long as possible.

To be continued…

Tony