8 • Continued from previous page we saw a snake cruising across the water, and we all stood up yelling and screaming and almost turned over the boat. We made it back to the gate safely. Although those childhood memories still linger in my mind, I had not met with any other adverse weather conditions as an adult, well, until I moved to Barbados. I am familiar with hurricane preparations, preparing for possible flooding, possible water and power outages and I think having this knowledge prepared me for Hurricane Matthew in 2016. I had to draw on the skills I learned from childhood. I was in the office at Cave Hill Campus, when there was a knock on my office door; it was the Administrative Assistant, Mrs. Heather Marshall. Mrs. Marshall enquired if I had checked my email as there was a notice of adverse weather and the Cave Hill Campus would be closing at noon. She enquired if I had water and groceries and I told her that I was good. Little did I know that my resolve would be tested in the days ahead. As I left the office, I noticed the clouds began to change — they were darker, and the wind began to blow harder. I ran into traffic leaving the campus as I drove towards the highway. I decided to take a short-cut and I met so much more traffic that I came to a stand-still. I was in the middle of the memorial event for the late Prime Minister, Mr. David Thomspon who had recently passed away and people were paying their respects. I was able to make it through the local traffic to the highway, but it was filled with traffic too. From my car window, I could see the wind blowing against the palm trees; the wind was shaking the car as I drove, the clouds were darker and outside looked like it was night. I reached home that evening around 6:30 p.m., I warmed some food, washed, and dried clothes, and waited for what was to come next. I was able to do that because I still had electricity. The rest of the evening was quiet as I settled into bed. However, around 12:00 midnight, the rain began to pour harder, as the wind blew against the window as if something or someone was trying to get in. I could barely hear myself think as the rain fell on the roof of the house. I peeped out the window, but I could not see anything as the electricity had gone. At one point, I heard strange noises coming from the attic and that intensified my discomfort. I’m not sure when I finally drifted off to sleep. The next morning (Saturday) it was still raining, and the wind was whistling throughout the house. The wind blew so hard that the worn latches on the windows could not stop the inside windows from blowing open. I found twine and tied it to the windows, but it would not hold, and water began blowing through the window. There I was trying to tie the twine around all the windows, but I had nothing steady to balance against to keep it from being blown open again. That’s when I had the idea of tying the twine onto the leg of the couch but even the couch was being pulled towards the window. I placed the entertainment centre and loveseat in front of the couch to help brace the pull. Just when I thought I had solved one problem, there was another at the back door. The wind began to blow water through the louvres and it spread all over the floor. In a panic, I pulled towels from the cabinet and spread them on the floor to help soak up the water. However, water still came in and I had to use my bed spread to try to soak up more of it. With things secured, I went looking for food. I know that the food in the refrigerator would stay cool just as long as I did not leave the door open. I took out some leftovers, but I did not have a way to warm up the meal. However, I had an idea, I took out one of my old pots and put it on the stove and placed newspaper at the bottom. I also found some coals I used for barbequing and placed two in the pot and lit the newspaper. I waited for the coals to become heated then I placed aluminium foil over the top. I placed chicken and rice on the foil and covered it. Soon I began to smell the delicious scent of hot food. • Continues on next page
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