Hurricane Tomas

WE SURVIVED!!!!!!

Friday was a bit of a hectic day on the island of Grenada. I was calmly sitting listening to Parliament pass the new Family Law Act (which is another post) when the Speaker announces the early dismissal of all public service workers due to "approaching hurricane storms". I'm from Missouri and we don't even know what a hurricane is because we have things like 12 inches of snow, tornadoes and blistering hot summers. I wasn't to worried when I heard we were being dismissed, until of course my counterpart rushed us out, followed by the rest of the general assembly.

We arrived in town to MAD CHAOS. There is no other way to describe it. Hurricane Ivan in 2005 had a profound effect on Grenada, ruining over half of the island. This invariably leaves Grenadians on edge when they hear the word hurricane now. I attempted to walk into the grocery store to get some staple items to last me through the weekend and walked into a mad house. People rushing around grabbing everything they could see, children crying and the constant 'ding' of the cash register. Everyone was in full mode to hunker down and ride this storm out.

THANKFULLY, in the last hour before reaching land, the hurricane took a slight turn and headed directly at St. Lucia and St. Vincent, both of which have Peace Corps Volunteers on them. We were immediately put in a Standfast warning, which means we are not allowed to leave our houses and should have our bags back and prepared to move to our safe house (a hotel). The Peace Corps takes safety very seriously and especially makes sure procedures are in place to ensure we are well taken care of in the event of a serious storm.

Unfortunately, we have gotten word that our fellow volunteers on the islands of St.Vincent and St.Lucia were not as lucky to avoid the storm and had substantial damage to their homes. Two Peace Corps staff had extensive damage to their own homes as well. I pray that things can return to normal and their projects can continue as planned.

So for now...Breaker 1-9 WE HAVE SURVIVED!