23 August 2011

Storm comin'

Hurricane Irene is barreling toward The Bahamas right now.


If you click on that map the 2am track is connected to an M in a circle. M stands for Major Hurricane and that 2am track has Irene squarely between Exuma and Cat Island. A Major Hurricane is a category three or above.

I'm scheduled to go back to Cat Island in two weeks and if the airport's still there after tomorrow, we're still going. Instead of a vacation that'll have me perched here for six days,


My trip to Cat this time's going to become a humanitarian mission. That porch probably won't be there, but it's insured and will be rebuilt.

It's the non-expats of Cat Island we'll be going over to help.


When you're a typical Cat Islander, things like insurance are an unheard of luxury and when your house gets destroyed in a storm you live in a tent until you can raise enough cash to rebuild your home. In the meantime, you scrape by as best you can. That's who we'll be going to help.

The folks on the Carolina coast are going to get walloped by this storm this weekend and the damage there will be widespread. I'm not minimizing the the threat and trauma my fellow citizens are in for. But I can't help but worry more about a group of people I love who have so little already.

As soon as I get word about what's happened on Cat, I'm going to start raising money to help with relief efforts on Cat. You have been warned.

10 comments:

  1. Sending good wishes for your vacation...and remember, a washing machine makes a good last minute ice chest - has a built-in drain too.

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  2. Thanks Ann, I somehow doubt there will be any ice to be had!

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  3. Godspeed, Paul. We spent a blissful and completely unplugged week on Cat Island 13 or so years ago, and the warmth of the Islanders (and the fragility of their homes) remains vivid.

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  4. Thanks Leah, where did you stay when you were there?

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  5. Just let us know. We'll be ready.

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  6. Thanks Kelly, the storm passed right next to the whole length of Cat Island last night as a category three storm. No word yet and the Bahamian Emergency Service hasn't been able to reach the island yet.

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  7. Best wishes and prayers for the people of Cat Island.

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  8. Thanks Chookie, I haven't been able to hear anything firsthand yet but we're planning to go help with the recovery as planned.

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Talk to me!