| Hurricane Debby |
11AM, Monday,
August 21, '00
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She's not quite a hurricane yet, but is predicted to become one soon. Local folk are scrambling to gather together what they might need and secure what they can. The burning question is whether the storm will pass to the north, the south, or directly overhead. The precise point of passage can make an enormous difference in terms of who gets blasted and how much.
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2PM, Monday,
August 21, '00 |
Latest estimates from the meteo tell us that the center of the storm will pass 100km or so to the south of us early tomorrow morning, but it wouldn't take much of a jog to the north to bring her here.
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6PM, Monday,
August 21, '00 |
Current estimates from the meteo tell us that the center of the storm will pass just north of Guadeloupe, keeping the most dangerous winds away from us. As sunset approaches, the overcast has broken, and we see a blue sky between patches of high clouds.
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1AM, Tuesday,
August 22, '00 |
It's still pretty quiet. There have been a couple of showers, but it hasn't rained seriously, and it isn't very windy. I cannot see it, but I can hear that the surf is building up in Lorient.
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5AM, Tuesday,
August 22, '00 |
You might know. Debby is farther north than predicted, the pundits now tell us that the center is currently about 25 miles south of St. Barths. It did howl for a while, but it has recently quieted down again. At least the old girl is moving along at a brisk pace, and whatever we get won't last for too long.
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8AM, Tuesday,
August 22, '00 |
There is no doubt in my mind that the center of Hurricane Debby passed directly over St. Barths a little before six o'clock this morning. The wind stopped, the cloud layer lifted a bit, and a half an hour later, the wind picked up again, without much oomph, from the south. You don't have to be Captain Ahab to figure it out.
It still hasn't rained much, and there still episodes of gusty wind, but it's over.
We'll get back to you later in the day, when we've had a chance to find out the consequences.
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6PM, Tuesday,
August 22, '00 |
Around mid-day we finally got some rain, not nearly what was promised, and it's been sprinkling on and off all afternoon
No one we've talked with has reported any damage of any kind, though we suppose that there must be some somewhere.
We were especially concerned about the fate of the newly refurbished beaches, but a brief trip to St.Jean revealed that the storm, if anything, has made a good thing better.
By mid-afternoon stores and bakeries were open, and most local folk were thinking about whatever they had interrupted to deal with the storm.
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