Twin Hurricanes

Much like Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea, St. Kitts was spared the wrath of Irma and Maria which were swirling on each side.  St. Kitts, on the whole, was very fortunate. I spoke with every employee about their experiences as they endured both storms one week apart.  The first on the Atlantic side and the second on the Caribbean side.  Most people had water forced into their homes, but not a flood.  Several people said that water was coming right through the concrete.  All said that they could not believe that Maria blasted them for 24 hours straight with driving rain and wind without a let up.  The very next day they reported that it was calm and sunny like nothing had happened. A few employees had lost some shingles and that was the extent of the damage to their homes.  Same at work were a couple of pieces of roofing had come off but no other damage.  Unless of course you are talking about trees.  Trees down everywhere.  Palm trees severly leaning over. Every banana palm was laying on it’s side, and the very tall and big-leafed breadfruit trees were damaged.  Breadfruit is a staple here and for the coming years, the harvest will be a fraction of what it has been. There was a lot of notable damage to mango trees.  Travelers palms have a very interesting growth pattern and they did not fare well in the strong wind.  Now we will discover just how long it takes for the center spike to make it to the outer edges of the open palm.  At home here too, the house withstood the storm, but the scenery has changed significantly and a large ficus tree that the monkeys would jump into on their way to our veranda is now gone.  So we have lost some shade, but it has opened up a more expansive view of the sea.  The house has blasted with sea water and dirt and the French doors that did not have hurricane shutters were translucent rather than transparent glass.  St. Kitts could easily have been a disaster like our VERY NEAR neighboring islands that are just 25-30 miles away.  You can see them from here.  I have two employees who were on personal trips to St. Thomas and St. Croix and they are unable to get off of those islands.  St. Thomas no longer has a functioning airport and St. Croix has a 12 noon to 4pm curview to keep looting and crime under control.  Those two guys have no idea when they will be able to come back to St. Kitts. All of the employees have family on these neighboring disaster islands and some of the stories are frightening and dismal.  We are having a bit of a food shortage for fresh vegetables and fresh meats, but that should alleviate this week when the container ships are able to make port again.  Cruise ships have already returned here but the island is not going to be very pretty for several months to come.