Our thoughts are with the Jamaicans who are facing the wrath of a warming world in the form of vicious hurricane Melissa. Just over fifty years ago we were living in Jamaica on a two-year contract, enjoying its beaches if not the teaching. In the brief time we were there we had a few....
....tropical storms but only one serious hurricane alert, when we cut short a holiday along the coast to the east of Kingston to hurry home and make preparations - picture shows a heavy sea coming onto the elongated spit on which Kingston's international airport and the old town of Port Royal stand, an area which is right in the path of Melissa.
Spurred on by a national broadcast by the prime minister Michael Manley in which he urged us to make full preparations for the emergency, these being published once a year in the Gleaner, Jamaica's main newspaper. So we filled the bath with water, managed to manoeuvre our Morris 1100 car onto our small veranda, and secured everything that might move - like the dustbin in the picture which looks innocent enough here but is no fun if travelling at a hundred miles an hour.
In the event the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm, so we endured some strong winds and heavy rain and enjoyed three days off school.
We pray that Melissa isn't as bad as forecast and that the country manages to survive without a disaster; and is then given as much assistance as possible in its recovery.
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