Tropical Storm Erica

TS Erica            September 3, 2009

 

Tropical Storm Erica charged over the island early this morning.   Last night, just after a spectacular sunset, the sky to the southeast lit up with lightening for hours, a sign that something was approaching. Light rain started at 2 am and the wind started picking up.  At 3:30 am, the wind was whipping past the cottage around 40 mph with higher gusts. I had to get up and shut all windows tightly as the horizontal wind forced rain through the narrowest gap.  I put towels at the base of the doors to keep the water from creeping in pools across the floor. The noise of the wind combined with rain pelting the metal roof made it hard to sleep.  I tried earplugs but when the power went out and the wind blew the driveway gate open with a crash, breaking its hinges, I gave up on the idea of sleeping. 

 

I thought about packing a ‘Go Bag’ in the event Erica increased her fury and I had to skedaddle down the hill to the relative safety of J and D’s less exposed house or to the ‘bunker’ at N and P’s.  I sat up and peered out the doorway on the leeward side to witness thrashing palms lit up by continuous lightening and feel the house and hillsides reverberate with incredible thunder.  Above the din, I could hear the tree frogs calling, reveling in the cascades of falling water.

 

Luckily, the worst was over by 4:30 and I managed a few fitful hours of sleep. It is typical for most teachers to suffer from poor sleep the night before the first day of school but not because of the effects of a tropical depression!  At 6:50 am I got the call I’d been waiting for: “No school today!”  I knew that all of my students and their families had sleepless nights as well so we’ll call today a ‘rest day’.  The warm tropical rain has continued all day with no signs of stopping. At least the cistern will be topped off. 

Check out video I shot at 3 in the morning-turn up the sound!