OMAR: Aftermath=PR / VI / N.Leewards

[caribepr]

Bvigal and HUC, glad you are both well. Sounds like a very bad scene in Guadeloupe

bvigal...nothing like a little exercise with your hurricane! People around here are grinning their heads off, so very thankful for what we were spared. No one can quite believe it yet.

[Gustywind]

Absolutely Caribepr, it's really an euphemisma given the pics on TV , horrible. Humm, we should stay optimistic, but for you info, another disturbed weather has formed east of the windwards islands i don't know if this will be another weather marker but we should monitor it as slow developpement is anticipated....wait and see that thing but does not seems for the moment on an brutal increasing:)...To have more
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=103629

[TYNI]

Back,after this fire just close to my home...................with toxics emanations......Hopefully,everyone is safe..............What a day,what a night,what a se, aways rough,and destroying a lot of coastal infrastructures...Stay tune and thank's.What about our friens of the N.Leeward?? i RETURN TO WORK sEE YOU LATER

Happy for that news my friend you are safe, i amazed by the numerous damages in Guadeloupe but especially Basse Terre 2 events exceptionnals in ONE awfull, see you later we should be prudent we Omar's tail, very juicy convection bringing squall lines and roughs seas are always present, what a DAY here!!!

Glad to see all have fared well...

What is it that is burning/on fire that is giving off toxic smoke? That is not good , and not something you expect from the effects of a hurricane, eh?

[caribepr]

another disturbed weather has formed east of the windwards islands i don't know if this will be another weather marker but we should monitor it as slow developpement is anticipated....wait and see that thing but does not seems for the moment on an brutal increasing:)...To have more
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=103629

Yes, I saw it earlier...wish I hadn't! Oh well, it at least helped me make the decision to just leave the gennie set up to go (easier than going back under the house twice more)

[vbhoutex]

In case people didn't see this in the discussion thread:

Irina
Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:21 pm
Offline
Tropical Low
Tropical Low

Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 1:45 pm
Posts: 18
Location: Miami, 25.8N 80.2W
Hi Everyone, especially GustyWinds.

Just got off the phone with MsBee. They had a good blow. Island info still hard to come by, as curfew has just been lifted.
Service is spotty. She has no internet, cable, electric or landline. I called her on her cell.
Parts of Sint Maarten took a good hit. Airport still closed. Tornado spotted on a main shopping street. Took off the roof of the ScotiaBank and several other businesses.
They got very lucky. She did "hoist" her shutters btw.
Driveway blocked. Clean up has started.
She thanks you all for your kind thoughts.
Cheers
irina

[artist]

thanks for posting that vbhoutex. I had been worried about her.

[CajunMama]

It's comforting to see all our islanders checking in and that everything for the most part is fine with them.

[cycloneye]

Its great to see that our friends in ST Marteen are fine and nothing serious occured in that island in terms of deaths.

[Gustywind]

All seems ok my friends, very glad for St Marteen no deaths, and here too but especially Basse Terre has suffered from the strong swell with numerous damages (many roads, close to the sea, water going in some houses bombing doors) but right now the sun is back here, some showers are forecasted but nothing to kill a cat!
Tkanks for all these infos my carib friends and your faith, strength, apoyo given... in this unpleasant event .

[Gustywind]

another disturbed weather has formed east of the windwards islands i don't know if this will be another weather marker but we should monitor it as slow developpement is anticipated....wait and see that thing but does not seems for the moment on an brutal increasing:)...To have more
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=103629

Yes, I saw it earlier...wish I hadn't! Oh well, it at least helped me make the decision to just leave the gennie set up to go (easier than going back under the house twice more)

Ok that's great, good

[Gustywind]

Back,after this fire just close to my home...................with toxics emanations......Hopefully,everyone is safe..............What a day,what a night,what a se, aways rough,and destroying a lot of coastal infrastructures...Stay tune and thank's.What about our friens of the N.Leeward?? i RETURN TO WORK sEE YOU LATER

Happy for that news my friend you are safe, i amazed by the numerous damages in Guadeloupe but especially Basse Terre 2 events exceptionnals in ONE awfull, see you later we should be prudent we Omar's tail, very juicy convection bringing squall lines and roughs seas are always present, what a DAY here!!!

Glad to see all have fared well...

What is it that is burning/on fire that is giving off toxic smoke? That is not good , and not something you expect from the effects of a hurricane, eh?

Tkanks TNYI for all, seems that it was a shop who contained paints, so it was toxics smokes, but all is ok , the fire is off since yesterday morning, the weather is pretty nice right now, residual scattered showers and tstorms are forecasted but all has decreased uickly ( sea, showers/tstorms)and it's the good news

[artist]

so glad everyone is ok.

[Gustywind]

so glad everyone is ok.

yes

[Jimsot]

Anguilla took quite a wallop. It seems there were some tornadoes with this storm here. Just got power back will give more information in the next few days perhaps pictures too. We have been cleaning up (house came threw AOK, landscaping trashed however). Jim in Sandy Hill Bay Anguilla

[Gustywind]

Ohhh good news from St Barths nothing too bad and that's great...
http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/stbarts.shtml

- Updates from the Islands -
- - St. Barts - -
| Update
From: frantz QUESTEL <fanzy_431 at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:33:45 +0100

Hello

Make an update about what happened in St Barths. The port had some damages like the fishmarket, the ferrys and the immigration offices, the wood dock in front of the BNP bank is out of order. We had some boats sink. And the capitainerie was flooding a little. But everyone here is doing the best they can to clean the island. The westside of the island from colombier beach to shell beach suffured with the swell.
This is a good site to see pictures: http://www.corossol.info

Take care everyone and be safe

[Gustywind]

To give you an idea of Basse Terre here is a pic from the damages on the marine coast...
http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/guadeloupe.shtml
- Updates from the Islands -
- - Guadeloupe - -
- Omar a Basse terre Guadeloupe
From: Philippe de Lacaze <philippe.delacaze at videotron.ca>
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:19:10 -0400

Big tropical storm...a lot of dammaga along the coast...very sad
1 photo vous a été envoyée.

omar4.JPG

Ces photos ont été envoyées avec Picasa, un logiciel de Google.
Pour l'essayer, rendez-vous sur : http://picasa.google.com/
Description: JPEG image
http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/jpgjQ71jL5ZrW.jpg

[cycloneye]

The thread was moved to Hurricane Recovery & Aftermath forum as Omar is gone.We can continue to post any new reports of the damage in the islands.

[artist]

heard from msbee, she stated they are ok, without electricity and internet, she had toi borrow someones - here is what she posted at stormcarib.com as well -

Update
From: "Barbara Cannegieter" <barcann at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:51:12 -0400

Greetings from St. Maarten after Hurricane Omar paid us a visit.



It was pretty fierce here for awhile but thankfully Omar didn’t stay around long.

While he was here though he did his damage… flooding, beach erosion, lots of trees down, electricity poles down, a few roofs blown off.

All in all, while we were lucky, the damage ended up being extensive.

There was not much major structural damage though.

Most of the Dutch side does not have regular electricity…... it is sort of an on and off affair. It comes and goes.

Power company says it will be 2 weeks before they are back to normal and for now are operating at 10% capacity.

Everyone’s favorite beach bar, Sunset Beach Bar by the airport, is gone.

We weathered it OK except we lost a lot of trees in the garden.

The worst thing is that my phone lines are down. Since I have DSL, this means no internet.

And I have a feeling it might not get fixed for a good while.

Now this means I am basically cut off from the outside road. No phone, no electricity, no Cable TV, no internet.

I do have a cell phone and thankfully we have a generator.

It could be worse !

In order to send this, I will have to find a Wi Fi hot spot or internet café somewhere.

Since I have not been online, I have no idea how the other islands fared.

I hope you all are OK and did not let Omar give you too many problems.

Thinking of you all as we continue cleaning up after Omar!

Barbara

[Dionne]

St Kitts-Nevis. No loss of life! Wind, storm surge and flood damage. 120 mph winds. People did lose their homes. How many has not yet been released. Four Seasons Nevis was "impacted by Omar storm surge" and is closed. Power lines are still down. Some roads have washed out. The Prime Minister has made a statement. The damage assessment continues. The information is sketchy. The ferries to Nevis were washed aground. The new cruise ship dock at Kitts held up well. Timothy Beach on the Caribbean side is trying to get back to normal. The airport (SKB) is okay. The water supplies are "adequate". Nevis electric grid up up and running. No mention as to the extent of damage to electric grid on Kitts. Most of the websites we use for Kitts are down.

And just for the heck of it I checked a few room rates at the resorts open.....the prices have plunged. You can stay on the beach at Frigate Bay, St Kitts W.I. for $50 pp/pd. !!!!!


Early this morning we received the St Kitts tourism newsletter. There was no mention of Hurricane Omar. Suspect it was written earlier and just now released.

We are trying to contact Lester Gillard. Boyds village. We just want to know if they are okay or need help in anyway?

Call Ron or Becky....U.S. 601-892-1597 on machine 24/7

[bvigal]

So good to get that report from Barbara, thanks artist! Also from Dionne about St. Kitts/Nevis.

Barbara's description of conditions underlines what is true on smaller islands vs mainland - it takes less wind, water to knock out essential services, and longer to get them back. Workers from other utilities cannot simply drive in from another state, as they do on the mainland. Other islands will send workers to help, but they send 4 or 6 people, not hundreds. Preparation for cyclones in the islands must include not only surviving the storm, but surviving the aftermath, which can be multiple times what it is on the mainland for equal damage. Critical supplies would be flown in, initially, as soon as airports are operational. Nobody comes in big trucks to deliver ice or generators or batteries or milk or baby formula. Store shelves are empty and resupply is slow via ocean freighters. Many dwellings do not have running water without electricity, as water is a precious resource, most homes have cisterns and buy drinking water. Dengue and other vector-born disease are a major concern, not just in Haiti, my friends.

That said, I think few properties won't be ready to run by high season. (December 14 or so). The islands are famous for accomplishing the nearly impossible to welcome back our tourists who come to relax and play!! This commitment is so strong, visitors would likely be offered someone's home if the hotel rooms weren't yet ready. The beach bars will rebuild quickly, then haul in coolers, icemakers, blenders, and glasses, and be back in business soon.

Barbara, I know you aren't online to read this, but hang in there - we know what you're going through! I hope they get your electric and phone back online soon!!! We will all be praying for you and the others who are suffering Omar's aftermath in this heat with little breeze.