When I left the office that beautiful summer afternoon, I did not understand what was in store for me. The day was quite hot and sunny; and I could feel the temperature further rising up. I couldn’t stand the clothing that I had on and to make matters worse I had to walk home from work.
Along the few miles home, I stopped occasionally to have a drink of water or to chat with someone who needed a question answered. When I finally arrived home, I was exhausted and very thankful, to not have fainted.
Beneath a mango tree, in the cool shade, I found my parents sitting sipping on cold drinks. I greeted them as usual but lingered not to chat. I climbed the steps to the house and headed straight for my room. Upon entering, I clawed at the clothes on me like a crazy person with an annoying itch.
Sweat dripped down my forehead and ran down my back in rivulets like I’d run a marathon, causing my shirt to cling to me further. My grey dress pants clung to my legs and made me so much more uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was tear them all off, and I did just that.
While ripping the clothes off me, I walked over to the windows in my room and ripped them open all the way through. I then returned to removing the remaining garments and finally breathed a satisfactory sigh. The enticing, cool breeze that filtered in, was like a feather’s caress upon my feverish skin. I felt like I died and was in total heaven. A radiant smile tugged at my lips.
What a day, I thought to myself.
Exhaustion then overwhelmed me. I was too exhausted to go any further than just letting myself fall across my bed. I laid there for half an hour until I felt that I’d rejuvenate enough strength. I quickly put on some shorts and a vest, then headed for the kitchen. All this time, I never paid much attention to what this heat could possibly mean. After all, I did leave in a heated zone. The Caribbean weather was unpredictable always.
Snippets of conversations my parents were having outside, floated into me.
“This type of heat, isn’t a good sign,” said mom
“Not at all,” agreed dad.
“It was announced that a wave was affecting us, but this heat we have been experiencing lately, just to have something following it.”
“I hope not,” said dad.
I was munching on a fried plantain when I was suddenly very interested in what the weather report had to say. I picked up my plate and headed to the living room and turned the tv on. I also logged in to my social media and immediately came across a post from the met regarding a warning for showers and possible thunderstorms.
An hour later, I got myself ready for bed. I left the windows of my room slightly ajar so that I could have at least a good rest in the unbearable heat. Sometime during the evening though, I woke up to light raindrops falling along the roof of the house, that steadily grew heavier but lazily. I lowered the windows a bit to prevent leakage in the night and went back to sleep like a baby.
Woke up the next morning to a cold atmosphere. Totally different from the day before, which was stifling. Glanced outside and it was foggy and wet. From my room, I could hear that the tv was on and the news being reported wasn’t all good.
News of road blockages due to various widespread landslides and falling rocks hit the media. The rainfall continued at its lazy pace. I ran to my room, jumped on my bed, and huddled beneath the covers to feel warm. I grabbed my phone and began browsing social media for posts of what was happening. I’d just came across a video when suddenly, both the internet and mobile services were lost.
With a heavy sigh and wondered about what was happening and sent up a quick prayer asking God to protect the island. Minutes passed by and still no hint of the return of the service. Filled with the fuel and hunger for news I searched for a radio. No avail found a radio, but I did find dad listening from his smartphone. I huddled up to him like a child would put my head upon his shoulder and listened to the messages coming in.
It was about two (2) pm that afternoon when the rain subsided and the weather started to clear up and you could see into the distance. The rain had fallen for hours nonstop. Rivers had overflown its banks, the sea was dirt brown, roads were impassable, and trees were falling across roads. It was broadcasted on the media that an entire community was affected by this rainfall. Great damage, tremendous loss of lives, destruction of bridges, roads, and buildings had taken place. The island was left in a state of devastation and mourning.
It's been a long time since anything as damaging and monstrous as this happened. And this, then, was a hurricane, where this time around it was just heavy rain that did such damage. Six (6) hours of constant down pouring rain across the island. Happened at night while people were sleeping. It happened like a thief in the night.
Life was never the same on this island. But the country’s people were resilient and they strived to survive and build back. They will!
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