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This blog is from the United States Virgin Islands. View the latest tropical storm imagery at Weather Underground. Read a running commentary on current tropical storms at Storm Carib. Comprehensive tropical weather coverage at Knight Quality Stations. |
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July 15 2005: Emily's off and moving to Jamaica having taken one life in Grenada. Reports from Grenada indicate that the hit was not as bad as from Ivan, but with a crippled infrastructure, I can still see a lot of misery. I can recall after having lived through Hurricanes Hugo (1989) and Marilyn (1995), that during the rebuilding process, the psyche can only take so much. Grenada's tourism industry rebounded, but people of limited resources have scarcely recovered. Some were still living under tarps when Emily came calling. Stateside, there's always lots of aid and comfort through organizations like FEMA and the American Red Cross. Utility companies have much manpower (local and borrowed)... but on an island, we must do a lot for ourselves. Even with all the aid that comes in, we wait longer for power, phones and cable to be restored. July 14 2005: Grenada's in the thick of it, Emily's at 90 mph (winds) now. They just got over Ivan, and our thoughts are with them. She's much further south than originally forecast. Hurricane warnings are downgraded to tropical storm warnings for Grenada, but quite frankly, who needs it??? Stay safe, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, and Hispaniola!!! July 13 2005: The St. Thomas Source says we will see Emily breeze by to the south; now, we pray for our neighbors that she will not be an ungracious guest... The outlook for the U.S. Virgin Islands has changed considerably, as Emily appears to have stayed more southerly. Unfortunately, we are seeing storm warnings in effect for Tobago, Grenada & the Grenadines, St. Vincent and St. Lucia. Also, Barbados and Venezuela... that's how far south she's looking to go before she turns towards the north. She's moving at quite a clip, 20 mph as of this writing. May she NOT slow down, because slowing down usually means more intensification. It's bad enough she's go so much warm water to play with. July 12 2005: The St. Thomas Humane Society issues some great tips for pet owners everywhere. How to manage your other loved ones if a storm is coming! The article is at St. Thomas Source.com... WVWI.net posts tropical advisories on their front page. You can also listen live (RealAudio Player required)!... WSTA is also on the net, live. Well, Emily is going to get a little close, if forecasters are correct. At this time, she is expected to pass at about 90 miles south of St. Croix... but watch out, Dominica and St. Lucia... Read the first burst of from St. Thomas Source.com... We are currently watching: Emily. She's pretty far out, not expected to begin to affect us until Thursday, but we have been here before. She looks like she'll get a bit closer to our hind parts than Dennis did. |