Hurricane Sandy

The effect of Sandy on Jamaica

The  passage of Hurricane Sandy in Jamaica, has left the eastern parishes of Jamaica the hardest hit. Parishes such as St. Mary and Portland were severely impacted, especially the banana trees. St. Mary is the parish which supplies the nation with banana, and with most of the banana trees gone, I expect that the cost of bananas will go up. It has been estimated by the agricultural department that the cost of damage by Sandy is $Ja 700 million. I almost expect that by next week the cost of food will go up especially for ground provisions.
Not to mention the damage to our already pothole ridden roads, I can imagine the areas hardest hit, have areas that are virtually impassable and accessible.


How did the storm affect me? 
Well  I am grateful to God that my region did not suffer in terms of flooding and  the lost of rooftops. However we were out of water, electricity, the telephone and the cellphones had no signal for approximately 4 days. I think during the time without light and communication, it was almost unbearable. I hadn't realised how much I was dependent on technology. The first day without light, I dreamt of using the internet but I was  occupied observing the happenings of the storm. By the third day without any form of  technology I almost  lost my mind, I was unable to get in contact with anyone and my only source of comfort was a small battery radio. Finally in the late night when the light returned, allowing me to connect to the internet and charge my cellphone, I was able to reconnect to friends and family. It was like a breath of fresh air, the lost of communication during that period made me feel like I was in  the deep jungles of Africa, cut off from civilisation.

Well I am quite surprised that a hurricane category one, left so many people homeless and the damage to our infrastructure was great. I am grateful to God that it was not a higher category,as that would have left many more people devastated. I now pray for the people of Bahamas, Cuba, who have already been affected by this storm. In addition I pray for America who are now bracing and preparing for the storm to arrive.

I am also wondering in this moment how will this storm affect the upcoming US elections Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney.I  am also realising that no one can control mother nature's fury and that we need to protect our planet so that it may protect us, as I my firmly believe that the cause of these disasters, is the pollution of our planet.