Josh has been studying like a mad man as it's block weekend. So he was practically studying/living at the school. Sunday night around 3p.m -ish, the storm that had been coming our way, had been upgraded to tropical storm. I start to get prepared for the storm by bring all our belonging inside so they don't blow away. Fill up the kids red tub with water just in case we need extra toilet water. We already had extra drinking water on hand. We've had a few Tropical storm experience before meaning rain and wind, not to much to worry about. Josh was still at his school Sunday night as he still thinks he has exams the next day. Then around around 8 pm Josh received a email from the school saying his block exams are being postponed till Wednesday due to the tropical storm coming our way. And that all students still at the school have to go home. The storm was predicted to pick up speed and power after passing St Maarten then turn into a hurricane. The morning of Monday October 13th the winds started to blow. Business were ordered to close by noon and everyone off the roads by 4p.m. Around 2 p.m. the rain starts coming, the storm is here. The main part of the storm was predicted to hit around 2p.m. It was windy and rain but it really wasn't too bad. Our power went out from 3-4 p.m. So I made dinner quick just in case it went out again as I didn't want to be cooking dinner in the dark. One up side is we have a gas stove. After supper I put out all our flash lights and candles on the counter so I knew where they were incase the power went out again. After dinner 5 p.m- ish we notice winds were picking up. Which we thought were odd as the main part of the storm was suppose to hit around 2p.m. and lessen up around 5p.m. Gonzalo was moving slower then predicted, which wasn't looking good for us. For the next 2 hours power kept going off then back on. By 6p.m. we were getting hit hard. It was just down pouring and the wind was crazy. The part that stood out to me is the howling sound the wind made. It sounded powerful. Our windows start rattling and water started coming in around the doors. So we grab all the towels had and started putting them against the doors to help soak up the water.
Gonzalo passed near Antigua (an island just southwest of us) as a tropical storm, tearing roofs from people's homes and knocking down trees, then Gonzalo gathered enough force as it neared St Maarten to be officially upgraded to a category 1 hurricane (6:30p.m.). Category 1 hurricanes have wind speed up to 95 mph but there was record of wind speeds up to 110 mph on St Maarten, which is a category 2 hurricane. Okay now I'm scared. Josh always wan't to experience a hurricane, so I get here it is. The kids weren't to sure what was happening so we just kept reassuring them that it was a wind and rain storm everything would be okay.
Gonzalo was described as a hurricane that came out of no where and intensified fast.
We luckily were watching the Hurricane watch online and saw that the storm had been updated but a lot of people weren't aware of it, as by 7p.m. our power was out for the night, candles it is. It was pitch black as it gets dark around 6. Lincoln had fun helping holding the flashlights.
By now the towels we have by the doors soaking up water are just not doing it. Water was coming in like crazy. So we had to start ringing out the towels and putting them back. We were doing this continually. Then Lincoln said "I think its raining in here." Water was dripping from our living room ceiling. Were weren't sure were the water was coming from, but we grab a big pot..... then another until we had 5 through out around our main level. From wholes in our ceiling and out lights on the ceiling. We began moving furniture out of the way. Josh had to screw out front doors (the door we don't use) shut, as they weren't staying shut on there own. The wind was crazy and howling like I never heard it before. We were constantly going around the house seeing if more water was coming in. At 7:30p.m ish the kids were getting tired so I brought them to our bedroom and put a movie on for them. Then around 8p.m. I was in the living room picking up towels to ring out again when I noticed there was a new leak on the roof. Josh checked it out. Our drywall on the ceiling was about to go, it was just a balging. There was going to be a tone of water coming. We acted fast and grabbed out red tub that we were using for another leak from the ceiling. Within seconds water started gushing out. It was crazy! I was officially scary. We had to empty the red tub our every 3-4 mins or so, which was a two person job. As there was so much water in the tub we couldn't put it down the sink and didn't have enough time to put it in the bath up stair so we had to open the door to outside. I opened the door trying to hold tight on the door while Josh throws the water out as fast as he could. While I opened the door I couldn't even see the house next to us. I'm thinking how long it this going to last. Josh and I got into a good routine keeping it under control, ring out 15 large towels, empty buckets and checking for more water coming in. The kids were doing good upstairs but you could tell they were tired and scared so I went up and let Josh manage the craziness. He had to call me a few times for help, to empty the tub and such, then I would go back up stairs and try to help the Lincoln and Lacey. The kids were tired so I figure they'd got to bed quit easily. By 8:30p.m. they were both out. I put them to bed in our bed as the wind and rain was louder in their room as the storm was hitting that side of the house. So I went back to help Josh. Josh and I worked constantly to keep the water out from 6-10p.m. Then we noticed the winded was slowing down a bit. Main level was very soggie. But we tried to keep the water coming in under control the best we could. The eye of the storm was over us around 11p.m. It was still howling like crazy out side and raining like crazy but we didn't have to keep ringing out the towels. Josh and I are both soaked and exhausted. We felt like it had calmed down enough by 11:30p.m. to try to get some rest. Buckets weren't filling up as fast any more.
I woke up around 3 a.m. and it was just storming out now, still windy and raining but wasn't crazy at all. Buckets didn't need emptying, thats a good sign. While I'm laying in bed trying to fall back to sleep the power comes on. Yay!!!! We can turn our fans on and cool off, It was so humid out. I did notice that there was a coolness that came with the hurricane, the wind just felt different. So I then try to text family back home but the internet was down. Around 6 a.m. the rain and wind stopped. It looked like a beautiful sunny day out side... Later we heard the eye of the hurricane went right over the Simpson Bay Lagoon, which we live right by.
We were all up early. We go down stairs and see our soggie musky house. I'm just glad we were all safe. The ceiling where the water was gushing earlier was looking really heavy and we could tell that it was going to fall so we move a few more of our belongings up stairs.
Then we go out side to see that damage.
Our back yard
It was such a good feeling to see our neighbours and to make sure they were all okay. Everyone was so concerned about everyone. Most of the damage in our gated community was uprooted trees. It was crazy to see the damage a hurricane can do.
Broken fences
We then took a walk to Josh's school to see the damage. It was crazy, it felt like we were in a movie and it didn't feel real but it was. We survived a hurricane and I don't want to experience it again.
The docks by the school that we visit quit often, were no more
Everything was closed. I was amazed at how fast the island started rebuilding trying to get roads drivable and everything put back and assess damage. As the islanders usually do everything slowly.
We were lucky to have internet come back on by 2:30p.m. Family was glad to hear from us.
Water on the other hand didn't come back on till Wednesday at 1:30p.m. So we were with out water for 48 hours which isn't to bad consider the hurricane in 1995 that hit St Maarten, people with out water for 7 days and power for 30 days.
Seriously, though it made me count my blessings. I have everything I need. I have my family. We were all safe. Yes the house we received some damage but it could be fixed.
The reason we had water gushing from our ceiling is water came in from our deck on the second level in between the ceiling and second floor. On tuesday morning the dry wall looked very heavy so we moved more of our belongings, good thing we did as the part of the ceiling came down an hour later.
Gonzalo downed utility lines, knocking out electricity, landline telephones and cable TV in several areas; uprooted trees; flooded homes; blew off roofs, doors and windows; toppled boulders; caused mudslides; sank and completely destroyed 37 vessels. It's crazy the damage a hurricane can make. Here's some picture of the destruction around the island.
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