Hi DUers

We survived Dean. He devastated parts of our south coast and our agricultural crops have been destroyed. Power began to return last night. We should have ours tonight. We had no damage whatsoever and water returned with in six hours.

We were lucky that Dean moved West - thatsaved us islandwide devastation. Dean sure had some heavy winds. Most of the island's damage was roofs blown off, thousands of trees uprooted and electric poles.

This too will pass - by the way the air is unbelievably fresh and clean.

Thanks for the messages. I hope the people in Northern Belize and Southern Mexico survived because they faced way more devastation than we did.

Add.

One love all. I'll be back soon.

:hug:

Lots of devastation on our south coast. Some people lost everything they owned. I visited some of the areas yesterday afternoon and most of today.
Our people are resilient but some are under severe stress. Hopefully we can pull together and help them recover. As people reach cut off areas, things are really bad.

Some friends had roof damage but we were lucky.
Water returned on Monday and power returned around six this evening.
We never lost our internet connection since the land phones worked right through the hurricane. Our cell phones also worked and we charged them in the car.

Thanks for all the love and care shown.

Yes mi friend, me deh a street again :D

:D

:hug:

We were able to practice our survival skills - cooking on our BBQ and sharing food with neighbours.
Thanks for caring. :D

And power so soon, how wonderful for you.

Thanks for letting us know you are okay. I look forward to more of your posts soon.

merh :hi:

our water, communications and electricity workers. On Monday we drove around and shared out chilled (on block ice) coconut water. Lots of people were doing the same. It's good for community spirit. It was also nice to see strangers cutting trees and clearing branches in the middle of major roads.

Thanks for caring :D

and, but for them, we would have never have come as far as we have.

We have a long way to go, but it was the strangers and the volunteers that have kept us going.

Good luck to you all. :hi:

these hurricanes are visiting us more often these days. Thanks for caring. :D

Hurricane season is NOT my fave time of the year!

You know I don't look forward to hurricane season but I'm glad I was able to adjust for the few days. Thanks for caring :D

I'm really glad to hear that you were lucky, and I'll be thinking, too, of those who weren't.

Take care and thanks.

So far seven people died as a result of Dean. We'll pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again. Of course that's easy for us to say but people start over.

So happy to see you here! I've been concerned about our Jamaican posters, and the rest of Jamaica too. Take care!

"the air is unbelievably fresh and clean"... way to find a silver lining!

Dean sure send some heavy breeze but lucky for all of us in Jamaica he passed south of us as expected. :D

They pull all the pollution out of the air and make for a beautiful week afterward, if u look past all the damage that is. Glad to hear it was better than expected.

with a roof over our head and lots of food and friends. Still I even noticed that all the palms have shed their dead leaves. Thanks for caring :D

thanks for checking in

That was some serious wind. Now we rebuild and reorganize our island :D
Still it's great observing the increasing experience of our disaster preparedness people. Thanks bro :D

Glad to hear you're ok!

:)

and thanks :D

Good to know things are all right.
:thumbsup:

:D

You've been there and done that. Dean was no match for Katrina and we're getting back to 'normal'. :D

:D

Sid

:D

5 more months of hurricane season to go.

YIKES!

three months...please!! :D

Take good care.

take care. Now it's back to work -one week behind schedule :D

I have been SO angry with the US weather forecasters who have been saying asinine things like, "The good news is, Dean won't hit the US coast." That's good news?! How about all the folks in Belize and Mexico who will suffer? But it is good to hear that Jamaica wasn't laid flat by the storm. I'll look forward to reading recovery updates from you, malaise. :hug:

tonight I'm just thanking all of you for your good wishes. :D

So happy to hear that you are OK.

this year. Last time you had us worried big time. Any word about the damage in Southern Mexico. I don't wish any hurricane let alone a Cat 5 on any people on our planet.

This was a monster storm.

Jamaica's shape is helpful - we're narrow east to west, where the storms come, so they often miss us on either the southern or northern side.
Thanks :D

so glad you and your family are OK

We're fine, richer for the experience, but we don't want another one for a while :D

Yay!

I'm so glad to hear you are OK.

Thanks for keeping in touch with so much going on.

I was just thinking about the air quality after a huge storm!

Take care of yourself and I hope everything gets back on track
before too long.

:hug:

everything but we lucky ones were able to stop and smell the roses:D

I'm glad you were spared anything worse and my thoughts are with those who weren't as lucky.

just the eyewall - winds were between 60 and 139 (a few gusts). The main part was about 114mph - scary but beautiful to watch from a safe home.

:hug:

Glad to be back.

:hi:

:D

Here's hoping the rest of the folks bearing the brunt of this storm turn out ok.

Thanks :D

:D

We're good to go. Thanks :D

:pals:

Great to be back, safe and without any personal injury or property damage :D

As Madokie said upthread "This is the post that I wanted to see". I agree 100%

I knew you would get to us as soon as you could.

Yes, yes, this too shall pass.

Glad to hear that you are safe, the rest will all come together.

Thanks Malaise! Great News to hear. So many people here were very worried about you during this time. Now we can exhale. :grouphug:

We sure exhaled at about 8.00pm Sunday night. What a ride :D

i am thankful you were spared to an extent. peace out

and the truth is that things would have been much worse with a direct hit. We are thankful. :D

:hi: :hug: :loveya:

How I love your handle. I still hear my dad attempting to sing the original song. Thanks for your kind words. :D

news of you.....and there you were!. So grateful you're OK....Thanks for bringing us up to date.

We're fine. :D

Thanks for letting us know!

:hi:

:D

Get well soon, Jamaica. One Love.

No problem. People were really scared. Thanks for your kind words. :D

So glad you're okay! :D
:hug:

although I'll be busy helping some peeps for a while. Thanks a lot :D

:hug:

:D

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :hi:

Funny how on the morning of the storm he went behind the soda and stayed there. He came out on his own minutes before the heavy winds subsided. Then he jumped on our bed and curled up. We knew it was over. Cats are so damn smart.

Thanks for caring :D

water and electricity are back across several parishes although the really devastated areas are still without both. We'll recover. Thanks. :D

I am so grateful that you and yours are okay. One love. :hug: :hug: :hug:

:D

people here in California after surviving a 7 pt earthquake, in a couple of months you will be saying "damn, that was exciting". Also glad you had no damage. You guys are tough.:toast:

watching nature take charge is a wonderful lesson. We are tough but we'd better be :D

But the important thing is, you're OK. Good luck to you and yours and to everybody in that beautiful place, hope you guys don't get any "heckova job" types working the recovery!

it really wasn't terrifying. Thanks :D

:hi:

:D

Never been to Kingston, but we love Jamaica..and it pained me tothink of that great place getting raked over by Dean :hug:

No problem we'll be back :D

:D

We were lucky. :D

I'm so relieved you made it through safe and sound. I've been through a few major hurricanes myself, and they're no joke.

:hug:

in these matters. Hurricanes are no joke. Hope none come your way this year:D

We're all thinking about you.

:hug:

We're fine :D

:hi:

:D

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:D

Caps.

:D

:hi:

:hi:

:hi:

better than kinda okay! You have a great attitude and that's gonna help tremendously!

One Love

because hurricanes don't ask permission to land :D

moved to Kauai in July and Hurricane Iniki came in September..Cat 5(whole island)..took us 5 years to recover. It was also a bonding experience with my son and other Islanders..taught us adaptibility and resilience too.

Going back in 3 years and I cannot wait! B-)

as people are forced to get together with strangers and neighbours.
Additionally they help parents pass on survival skills to the next generation. It is great watching the kids helping parents and neighbours as they clear up the debris and share drinks with the power company men.

Hope you can get things back to somewhat "normal" soon...

but the recovery started within hours. Thanks.

:hi:

We didn't even have a drop of water in here.

:bounce: :hi:

Thanks sis.

:grouphug: :grouphug:

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20070821T230000-0500_126520_OBS_JAMAICA_NOW_BETTER_ABLE_TO_COPE_WITH_HURRICANE_DISASTER.asp

<snip>
What is clear from a quick look at the landscape after the passing of Hurricane Dean is how our improved infrastructure, including roads, electricity and telecommunications, has made us better able to cope with the disaster. So too, has the organisational framework that has been developed and is now manifested in the work of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).

Most evident is the difference in the scale of damage to our housing stock, even when account is taken of the less direct hit from Dean, compared with Hurricane Gilbert. Much more needs to be done to improve the quality of our housing stock but there can be no doubt that things have improved in this area by leaps and bounds in the past 19 years.

:hi: :hug:

Yipeeeeeeeeee! Hi Molly!! :D I love that photo.

Stay well!

to every DUer -you're great folks. :grouphug:

:hug: :hug: :hug:

:hug: :hug:

Sorry to hear about the damage, I hope everyone can get some assistance and recover.

Thanks for keeping us updated, lets hope you remain out of harms way.

Now what is happening with Ohio and Wisconsin? I saw a frightening report on floods and mudslides on BBC late last night.

One of my colleagues lost his entire roof but he lives in the Red Hills and somehow forgot to shutter an important east to west window.

:D

Here are some of the photos from parts of Kingston. Those at the bottom are from Caribbean Terrace. Thirty foot waves wiped out several homes. Ivan destroyed some of those homes three years ago and after living so close to the sea for over 40 years, many homeowners are about to abandon ship.

http://picasaweb.google.com/uvesedwards/DeanWasMean