Tammy, the hurricane that never was!
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- The Virgin Islands (VI) was on high alert. A category 1 hurricane named Tammy was on its way to the Territory.
It had left much damage in some of our Caribbean neighbours, with extensive flooding in Barbados, the French Islands and Dominica.
Many residents of the VI with still fresh memories of the 2017 deadly category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, were not taking any chances.
Residents crowded the local supermarkets, hardware stores, side shops, farmers' markets, and food stands on the four main islands; Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost van Dyke, to buy up all they could.
We are on top of things this time- Government of the Day!
The Minister for Communications and Works Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5), other Members of the ruling Government, along with his crew from the Public Works Department, rushed in front of the cameras to show they were on top of things. They cleared and cleaned main roads, ghuts, and alleyways, along with hillside erosion from Jost van Dyke to Tortola. Pictures were taken and press releases issued, as no one on the Government side was missing this photo opportunity.
Gas stations earned a few extra dollars as most residents filled up their vehicle tanks, especially on the sister islands. Everyone was glued to the online news, radios and televisions for the latest Hurricane Tammy forecast, while in many areas, both in the public and private sectors, crews were called to place hurricane shutters on homes, businesses and buildings.
District representatives, who are normally traveling or absent from their districts, or are usually equipped with the script, “I can’t help”, “We do not pay for that anymore”, and “It is the CoI”, were given permission to have the district emergency crews on standby for action before and after Hurricane Tammy, with final clearing of drains and ghuts and removal of debris. One Opposition Member, eager to stay relevant, provided sandbags to his constituents and they melted with appreciation, for this was never done before in that district.
Some district representatives had a resurrection
Other district representatives, for the first time in six months (post-election 2023), toured their districts and made phone calls to have plans in place just in case Tammy had been problematic and they wouldn’t have to face the wrath of the residents living in their areas, morning radio shows and blogs.
The Territory was prepared, as both Governor John J. Rankin, CMG and Premier Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), who are Members of the National Emergency Operations Centre, issued their normal weather statements trying to restore calm and show they both still hold official titles, despite their low approval ratings.
Yes, there was rain off and on from Friday, October 20, 2023, and with every rain drop residents became anxious because of flooding and poor drainage and some landlords not willing and, in some cases, not able to repair roofs and drainage around rental apartments.
We were prepared
We got up on Saturday morning, October 21, 2023, as many boaters with large barges moved with haste to the nearest Hurricane Harbour Shelters to protect their investments, because of out-of-control insurance costs. The Sea Cows Bay harbour began to fill up with boats on Saturday and at least the unsightly, shameful sunken boats and yachts in the harbour from September 2017 disappeared for the moment.
So, there was much hoopla but to the residents and Government’s credit, they were ready for Tammy and the Department of Disaster Management communicated as much as they could. We were told that by Saturday night we would feel the brunt of Hurricane Tammy. By Saturday morning, many announcements were made regarding the closure of airports, ferry terminals, and suspension of ferry services and some essential services.
But we woke up on Sunday morning, October 22, 2023, to not much rain, while a few natural ghuts had water running. District Representatives and the PWD were given the green light to have emergency crews in place before and after Hurricane Tammy, despite the infamous and restrictive Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and the Procurement Act, ready to go on a moment’s notice with no competitive bidding needed this time.
This was possible because the Governor, Premier and Financial Secretary (FS) had worked out a deal to avoid Mr Rankin firing off another two-page letter to the Financial Secretary on policies and procurement post CoI to keep Mr. Jeremiah G. A. Frett, the FS, in his place.
As we gazed outside on a Sunday morning, many were seen going to church, work, playing sports or just to have breakfast, as the sun was up, and the clouds lassoed the mountains on many hilltops.
No longer forgotten
The grounds were still saturated from Tropical Storm Philippe, as one school had to be closed a few weeks ago due to flooding from Philippe and some communities like Brewers Bay, on Tortola, complained that they were the ‘forgotten city’ in the clean-up after Philippe. The powers that be listened to the cries and today, Brewers Bay, for example, was ready for Hurricane Tammy because of the cleanup efforts by a private contractor, along with the support of the PWD, and the Communications and Works Ministry.
We were spared! Hurricane Tammy turned away from us; however, she is still out there, with some feeder bands. Whether you believe it's global warming, a conspiracy theory- that these weather phenomena are man-made- or in God who has blessed us, as the Hurricane Season continues until November 30, 2023, the Territory of the VI has lived to fight another day.
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43 Responses to “Tammy, the hurricane that never was!”
systems are go at all times
Weeks before hurricane season clear the drains, trim the trees etc. and every month after check to ensure that these things remain clear. All this laid back, half cocked, shortsighted leadership has to end. If they don’t want anyone to talk about them, they should do their jobs correctly and timely!
Hurricane Tammy never posed a threat to rtw BVI.
While I truly agree with your post about giving thanks,
The folks in charge needs to do a better job about there information reports, when the reports was sent out for Saturday I wondered what we were drinking or smoking because if you had been paying attention to the storm track in for the previous days you would have realised something was wrong with the report.
We need to insist that the the published information is clear and concise otherwise the public will lose faith and belief in the information source.
I’m also sure I’m not alone in saying these elected persons should be in place at all times to keep our people safe and take care of the inforstructure as we pay our taxes but it seems even that is not good enough for them to do in the first place.
We all know what the problems are. We need to be forthright about them and address them head-on.
The truth is, it is much easier to do well in life and for a country if you get the right start. If your good and right start is postponed, it gets progressively harder to do well with every year that goes by.
How difficult can it be on this very tiny island like the bvi to get all our people and Island off to a good start?
The Brewers Bay community is grateful for the efforts made by the Minister of communication his competent PS & Rep. Of the 2nd district, PWD and Ms Stevens of PWD who was responsible for managing the clean up project. We wish to recognize her for the excellent contributions she made towards the clean process along with an excellent young man who operated the heavy equipment. We are anxious to
to see Government's further input in completing the fixing of Brewer's Bay beach and surrounding areas that were badly damaged.
Not him
then we wonder why people are the way they are. If we now have parents leaving their kids with a tablet of ipad to teach them about life and it's these same social media they are using for guidance. This world is heading down a very dark path
MADNESS
The Government Ministers are all P**$$$!£$ and only interested in travelling and the perks that come with being an elected official. The BVI is used to having district contractors clean ghuts, bushes etc. for decades and they let these people from the UK come down here and tell us it's corrupt for your own small businesses to get contracts. Why should we continue electing these wastes when they are totally useless? Some of them are so careless and bold that they come right out and tell you "Boy we can't do that, the Governor watching we!" NO &*^%$£ SHAME!