The Day After Gustav

On Wednesday, 27 August 2008 the weather forecast said "Tropical Storm Gustav will be moving north of the island as it comes of Haiti." Thursday morning around 2am the power went as the winds had picked up a little... we though must be some spin off from the storm. The sisters and Br Michael headed off to town to do the Thursday Banking and some shopping in town... little did we know at the time that Gustav had taken a hard left over night and was headed to Jamaica.

Gustav took it's time getting to Jamaica, and the banking and shopping were expedited as most all stores were closing at noon. It wasn't until 9pm when the force of Gustav hit Above Rocks and unleashed it's winds and heavy rains throughout the night. By morning the friary bedrooms were flooded as the wind blew the rain right under the doors and in... trees were down and the mud slides had begun.

All day Friday it rained, at times heavy, and the winds came in bands throughout the day. By the time we turned off the generator at 9pm, the hills were crumbling butt he rains were beginning to cease. And best estimates say 26" of rain fell...

This morning we awoke to warm breezes and significant mud slides to our left and to our right, now the process of clean up can begin. While the past 36 hours have been trying, the imposition that our people experience, many of whom live in wood and zinc dwellings is almost inconceivable: the dampness and the noise.

The good news is: no loss of life in our district and as our four churches report in. The bad news: the roads are still blocked and there is no power. We pray that this year's outage is less than the 19 days we endured last year.

Continue to remember us and our people as we clean up and journey through this hurricane season.