I awake today without realising that Grenadians will never ever forget the day that is today - September 7th, 2004. The entire household in New York is concerned. We look as Ivan slowly but surely makes its way for a direct hit on Grenada. The TV stays on the Weather Channel for the remainder of the day. After speaking to my niece who has experienced three hurricanes on Montserrat, I begin to worry less about the dog. She says animals usually find a way to take care of themselves. In her words "I've never seen a dead dog after a hurricane". That's good enough for me. My boy will take care of himself.
I phone the folks back home again. Nothing much is happening. No wind, no rain. Its around mid-morning and everyone is awaiting the arrival of the beast. There's a lot of chat going on at the Spiceislander Talkshop but few people there have experience of a hurricane and most can only repeat what they have heard about Janet in 1955. I switch to GBN Radio, Grenada's main radio station, on the Internet and I wonder who's dead?..... the music they are playing seems like a national day of mourning.... I wonder if this is a sign of things to come. Very little is being said. I thought just maybe they would be busy reminding people of where the hurricane shelters were, what to secure, what not to do etc etc. It seems eerie, and it is a bit depressing. Later on, George Grant comes on air and things gets a little better, but only a little.
Sometime after mid-day the first reports are in. People calling in from the east coast report that the wind is picking up and already someone has lost their roof. Then the calls to the radio station become more frequent and more alarming. Some people in a vehicle just escaped being hit by a fallen tree; they have to rescue an old woman whose house was just smashed to pieces; someone has just seen a roof leave a house on Cemetery Hill and fall into the sea (that's a far distance for a roof to travel); More and more people are calling to report that roofs are "flying" off the houses around them. Then it happens.... nothing ...... GBN radio is off the air. I find out later from George Grant that this is when the mast outside their studios crashed down onto the roof and everything turned Ole Mas.
I try to call home by phone and as would be the case for the next several hours, I cant get through. Its off to bed without any word as to how my family and friends had surived the passage of Ivan. My two sisters and their families, my brother, my neighbors, I wished that they all made it through OK. In general I hoped for the best - too many people did not have a clue of what the power of a hurricane could do.
