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- GUSTAV AIN'T FOOLIN AROUND
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:27:11 -0400
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There is guilt in being relieved that we don't
have to face GUSTAV.
PLEASE PAY ATTENTION ....all of you in or near the
guessed paths...it seems that the tracks are changing
by the half hour. Gustav is the wake up call
for the entire Caribbean and Gulf regions. Fay continues
to
break trail for Gustav and history tells us that
storms follow each other thru warmed up water.
Please pay attention now; the components are
right for Gustav to create big problems for
allot of folks in different terrains. The
ground saturated by Fay will be a tough receiver if visited
again.
Our hearts go out to those without decent
shelter from the storms. Help your neighbors by being
prepared and having enough on hand to
share.
If you live in an area where you can drive away
from a storm, take the trip now; if you plan on visiting
anywhere in Gustav's path ; think
twice.
Those of you that choose to visit the Caribbean
during storm season should not be surprised by
leaden skies; heavy humidity ; high seas and tense
locals. There is a reason for "off" season; or
an entire alphabet of reasons. We love
having you visit but come
prepared for anything.
This is the hardest time of the year for us to be
the bright and cheery hosts we try to
be. Understand
that many small hotels and restaurants are closed
down during late August till early October.
Stay safe and informed. Make sure those
around you without communication tools
understand
what could be coming. Be over prepared . Let
us know how you are doing and if we can help.
Warm humid sticky tropical
regards,
Jane Higgins , in the drippy rainforest
called FORTUNA in West End St Thomas
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- About Last Night
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:36:41 -0400
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We watched all the cable
network weather reports, waiting to hear Fay named, expecting a wild
night,
and wondering why a certain weather man in
the states protests so much about NOT having a hurricane to
chase.
He literally compared this "failed" storm
to receiving a much anticipated Christmas gift that disappointed. Can
you believe it? The whole concept of
being frustrated with NOT having a named storm is so inhuman,
can't
we say we really got
lucky?
Around 11:20 last night it all really
started, the pressure must have dropped abit as my ears were hurting,
then
the lightening and thunder followed.
It was way out there to the Northeast, and not reminiscent of other
times
when storms have literally hatched over our
heads. Thanks for the rain, at least 5 inches in the gauge this
morning,
it is quite sticky and overcast now,
we'll take it and the plants are happy now. Hoping that the
mountains
to the West of us break this storm up,
there was little wind here.
Stay safe and dry. The weedeater will
get a major workout soon.
Jane Higgins
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- Here it is!
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- From: RonUSVI at aol.com
- Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:54:47 EDT
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Rained a little bit this afternoon. Thunder and lightning as I
type. Guess we are in for a rainy night!
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- Blue Sky is not a friend today
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:13:42 -0400
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Good
Morning,
As you can see from Dave's report the
dust is leaving us ; the blue sky proves the dust is gone and
now
we are vulnerable to what will pass
over, hoping for JUST RAIN please. It is hot hot hot, and the
Atlantic
has picked up abit. The ten huge
drops of rain we had this morning around 5:30am came in
sideways.
The wind is picking up and coming from
several directions, the plants are arching up for moisture
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Stay in touch down islanders and let us
know how it is going.
I cleaned out the hurricane room
yesterday and just that bit of organization makes looking forward in
this
season a little
easier.
The sugar birds are loading up, a good
sign we'll have a stormy day.
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- It's hot!
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- From: RonUSVI at aol.com
- Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:32:38 EDT
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It's been really hot these past three days. Something is
sucking our breezes away. Hopefully this Invest93 will just pass us by with some
rain! Keeping my eyes open.
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- CLEARING THE DECKS WILL LOWER THE STRESS
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:50:53 -0400
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Good Morning Island
Dwellers,
Looking at the map this morning
gives some relief from worries this week, but it is time to clear
the decks;
fill the pantry, test the batteries,
and continue ticking off those projects on our storm watch lists. Looking
at mid
August as spring cleaning time will
lower the stress and rush when the real scare comes down the road. This
train from Africa is not going to go
away and we all know our odds. We continue to prepare for losing
our
electricity in any weather; as the
dependence on fossil fuels in our antiquated power systems in the
Caribbean
become a daily challenge.
Harvesting the sun and wind is our answer; we all know it.
Why haven't our
power companies figured it out?
Look to the East and be ready.
Happiness can be measured by readiness.
We had some good rains last week, and
are ready for more. It has been really hot in the wake of what is
coming
to visit; and a breeze has picked up
this morning. You can begin to see the protective layer of Sahara
dust
thin out; there is some horizon out
there.
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- A PERFECT WINDOW OF WEATHER
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:40:30 -0400
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Sometimes we just get lucky; sometimes it is
serendipity; and yesterday was a miracle window of
weather and geological events between
Tuesday's ash fall from Montserrat and today's rapidly
moving power showers, Wednesday was as good as
it can get in the middle of sultry summer.
In the works
for a while was a fashion
photography shoot for one of the companies I represent;
the first
time taking photos
in the Virgin Islands for this resortwear line. We had one
day to do it in; the
right photographer, a great director and fabulous models; even the USPO
cooperated and the show samples
were received via
Express Mail on time!! How lucky can you get?
There were enough showers on Tuesday to bring
the ash down and clear the foliage off.
The frangipani , flamboyant and bougainvillea
were in competition ; the bright colors
of
summer flowers astounding against the
newly greened up bush.
Thanks to the weather gods for today's
rain and for holding off for the one day when a clear
day
was really needed. In the last few hours
we have received about 3/4" of rain, the sky is
heather
gray, there is no horizon and I'm glad to not
be sailing or flying today.
We are all so lucky to live in the place where
so many can only visit for such short times in their
lives; looking forward to more rain, the
steady drip into the cistern is one of the most
cherished
tunes in this
house.
Warm tropical regards......Jane
Higgins
Northwest St Thomas overlooking islands
called Cockroach and Cricket (more about
those creatures soon
come)
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- email addiction and lots of rain
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:01:39 -0400
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Good Afternoon,
AND MANY THANKS TO THE RAINMAKERS!!!! We just had
2 good steady downpours,
the rain gauge was dry this morning when I watered
all the plants, now it is showing 2 inches.
This is glorious news; as the thought of buying
anymore water made me crazy. The wild
parakeets were very close in this morning,
drinking from the pool in low fly over formation;
screaming and whining about the very small drought
dry genip fruits.
The sugar and hummingbirds have been draining the
feeders at a break neck speed in the
last few days, getting in my face if I don't keep
them full; the most obnoxious one is the tiniest
hummingbird with his crest up, I named him helmet
head and he seems to be a permanent
fixture here even when the others go on
vacation. We have an open house plan, large shutters
that we close at night, but otherwise all day any
critters come visiting; including helmet head
if he doesn't get his feeder filled up in a timely
fashion.
My email has been intermittent since
Saturday.....I am totally internet addicted and can't
believe
how much it effects my mood; as I wait for the
phone company to fix the other line the changing
of the cables in the spaghetti mess behind my desk
reveals what hoops I'll go thru to keep the
addiction going. I'm so glad we have nothing
huge on the horizon as trying to really get a good
grip on the weather now absolutely involves a
computer and www.stormcarib.
I heard a report on public radio last night about
the blizzard of 1888 and how many died when
2 huge weather systems collided, now I remember
why my Grandfather always referred to himself
as a blizzard baby, and it seems impossible to
believe that Granddad could be born so long
ago.
With so much information available about the
weather and our environment there is no excuse
for being completely prepared. Best of luck
to those near DOLLY.....the rain will be welcome;
and hopefully the flooding won't be as bad as
predicted. Please let us know how you are doing.
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- 7 second downour
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:01:02 -0400
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Good Morning Islanders,
We had one of those (I timed it) 7 second huge
downpours early this morning, leaving about
1/8" in the rain gauge (wine bucket), so thanks
again to the rain gods, it was enough to keep
the veggies and herbs happy for the day.
It is cooler and crisper after the rain, and
the Sahara dust seems to be moving out. Bluer
skies, puffy clouds and whispering palm trees
are creating the Pissaro effect
today.
I wonder how Bermuda is doing? , and hoping that
the blob in the Caribbean behaves and
just brings needed
rain.
The July moon has brought out the big fishing
boats; a few have raced by the north-side this
morning. Wishing them all the best of
luck.
A seahorse was spotted in the sea grass this week
by one of our local diveshops; always a thrill to hear
news about the little ones. I saw seahorses
in Dominica once while snorkeling above barrel
sponges that were big enough to crawl into, the
seahorse's bouncing rhythm seems an odd
gait for an ocean bound
critter.
Stay safe and pay attention; I'm going to top
off the hurricane pantry today.
Jane Higgins from the gorgeous
west end of St Thomas
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- AT LAST RAIN! AND GOING SOLAR
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:31:30 -0400
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It is a great morning on the west end of St
Thomas, at last we have rain. For about the
last 1/2 hr it has been sprinkle to downpour and
back to sprinkle, about 1/4 inch in the
rain gauge (wine bucket that had cobwebs in it!!!)
The green life around us is curling up
to catch every drop and sighing with relief. The sugar and hummingbirds are rolling
in
the leaves ; catching a bath, and I will be
hanging the just cleaned clothes in the rain.
With energy bills quadrupling in the last year
here in the USVI, the dryer stays unplugged
and the hot water heater is allowed to labor only
3 hours a day and still the power bill
is a shock every month. A big chunk of money
was forwarded yesterday to our solar
guy and a solar pool pump will be installed within
the next few weeks. Piecing apart
our energy consumption into different systems in
our house will make this transition
to get off the grid affordable over time and the
liberation factor will be priceless. Please
write about your experiences with alternative
energy in the Caribbean; this is part of
a larger weather picture; being completely
prepared before and after the storms of nature
and the storms created by humans not willing to
recognize deteriorating infrastructures.
It is hard to conceive that our power company
is 100% dependent on fossil fuels and has
not had improved infrastructure for over a
decade. Sunshine is free and in huge supply
where I live.....how about where you
live?
Great to hear that Bermuda is back in the
business of sun and fun today . Looking
at the next system; let's hope for more rain
and little wind.
Stay safe and prepared.
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- A WALK ON THE WEST END OF ST THOMAS
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 09:50:41 -0400
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Good Morning,
We are having some slight showers; very warm and humid, and the Sahara dust
comes and goes. The photo attached
depicts a view from the very western end of St Thomas, a preserve called
BOTANY BAY, it is incredible; historic,
and being developed. We hope the developers follow their promises and keep
it as astoundingly beautiful as
it was on Sunday when this picture was taken. Literally hundreds of hermit
crabs were on a march of some kind;
gathering in groups, rolling over as we neared. We found golden Julie
mangoes scattered on the ground and the big
purple grafted mangoes were hanging low in the trees waiting for the perfect
ripening. There was soursop, breadfruit,
limes and genips everywhere among the old coconut palms resting in their
lazy attitudes slung along the beachfront.
The old sugar mill ruin is all facade and surface; the end result of so much
human labor so long ago. Botany Bay is magic.
Everyday that passes during storm season without a threat is another great
day. Stay safe, get to a beach, read that book;
chill out; high season and busy-ness soon come mon.
Jane Higgins
Fortuna, West End , St Thomas
jhigginswear at islands.vi
Attachment:
Botany Bay 6-7-08 004.jpg
Description: JPEG image
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- another Bertha
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:02:53 -0400
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Good Afternoon,
We are feeling a little "Bertha-ish",
very windy gusts up to about 23mph, and the Atlantic
from our deck looks like rough seas 5 to
7 ft. We remember Bertha from 1996; we were
camping in St John at Cinnamon Bay and
some taxi-men told us to be prepared for a storm!
We were shocked
by how early in the season it was and were caught very
un-prepared. My
airplane mechanic husband was on call
with a beeper at that time and was in charge of
6 airplanes; so the rush to pack up and
get to the car ferry showed how frantic he really
was. We made it back in time to St
Thomas for him to secure and send off the planes; but
very late in the game to help secure our
dwelling. While I struggled with the plywood
shutters
as the wind was starting to pick up, he
was driving home thru our back farm country on the
steep
cement road now littered with hundreds of
very ripe mangoes....needless to say; but fun to
report in the aftermath; he literally
drove on mango jam all the way home.
I still kiss the ground, the sunrise, the
sunset and the sea everyday; we are the lucky ones; and
we are prepared for what nature
brings.
We are working on going all solar; a
long-term dream that must become reality soon with rising
power bills. First step for us is
the solar pool pump; so if any of you out there have any
experience
or advise about going solar ; please
include some information in your reports. Looking
forward
to being prepared and energy independence
can be a central theme to our readers. Now
that
Gert has some sponsors I hope some solar
and alternative energy sources will join them in supporting
stormcarib.
Thanks again Gert for this valuable site;
it keeps us informed and sane thru the storm season.
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- a little bit
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:01:12 -0400
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We had about 1/8" rain last night (wine bucket) in
the rain
gauge, enough to cool things off ......hoping for
more....thinking
about the last Bertha in July of 96....she
was quite a surprise.
Take care and let us know what kind of weather you
are getting down island.
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- Water Truck Comes Twice in One Day
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 22:25:12 -0400
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We are dry dry dry in western St Thomas, our water
truck mon came to our rescue early this morning, winding his
way down our tiny dirt road and was interrupted
from proceeding by an ill parked car in the road. No one
responded
to the banging on the doors and he turned around
and left us behind high and dry; he made the second trip up the
steepest
hill in St Thomas to hydrate us after
some calls and maneuvering of vehicles. When it doesn't come from the
sky
we welcome the water truck on the roughest
tightest turn arounds on our small pitted roads. Many thanks
again
to our exhausted water truck driver. I can't
imagine the stress he is under, and the extra cost of fuel now hurting his
bottom line every
mile.
All of you down south please let us know
if rain soon come, buying water is against our grain!
St John Carnival is this weekend, tomorrow is
Emancipation Day; the most important day in our island's history;
and
Friday the other important day in our nation's
history. Happy Independence Day, let's cherish it; and hope for a
safe
storm season to come. Independence is the
word for what we need to do to be completely prepared for whatever
comes.
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- WINDY & RAINY , WOW WEE
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:36:40 -0400
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Good Morning,
After waiting all weekend for the needed
forecasted rain, a few gusty car wash
blasts of showers moved thru and left us with
about 1/4 ", plants blew over on the deck,
and there were probably a few iffy landings
at the airport. Finally last night it all let loose,
including the drool from our Audrey dog as the
thunder and lightening went wild. We
had loads of rain and heavy enough to make it to
the cistern, about another inch and
1/2 out here in Fortuna. The foliage has
uncurled and brightened up, and you can feel
the relief. We were COLD last night when the
first big blasts of thunder were booming;
the temperature crashed suddenly and the Gods were
bowling strikes. Hopefully the
water mon can relax now for a while. It is
still gusting like crazy, it will be interesting to see
the arrangement on the deck after this wind dies
down.
Jane Higgins on the Northwest side of St
Thomas,
facing the Atlantic at about 600 ft up the
hill....
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- Lightning and Thunder!!
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- From: RonUSVI at aol.com
- Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:57:49 EDT
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And rain happening now! Hope it fills my cisterns tonight!
Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. |
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- That time again
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- From: RonUSVI at aol.com
- Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:32:44 EDT
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Well, I guess it's time to start giving some reports. Been
hearing about a system going by. It's been windy the past few days with a little
rain in between. On Friday, a quick wind storm passed trough in less than ten
minutes blowing down a tree or two and ripping the giant tent my brother's team
had just erected the day before for the Relay for Life cancer walk last night.
Then last night, what promised to be a nice night for walking the relay, was
nice with gentle breezes until the skies opened up a little after midnight! That
went on for half hour or so, then no more. It didn't dampen the spirit of
some of the walkers and runners as they trudged along in the
downpour.
This morning is bright and sunny with some gust of wind still
going on.
Enjoy the weekend!
Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. |
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- WATER MON NEEDS A REST
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- From: "Jane Higgins" <jhigginswear at islands.vi>
- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:34:32 -0400
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GOOD MORNING ISLAND
PEOPLE,
Here on the Northwest side of St
Thomas in Fortuna, facing the Atlantic, skies are very
grey,
seas are up and choppy, and the wind
is kicking. We can only wish that the water
trucks
can stay home and rest; we have been
so very dry this year. The fruits and veggies are
begging
for some rain, and the cistern sounds
hollow. Let's hope for the best....looking forward
to
this blob on the map today.
Sorry to hear of Ms.Mermaid's fever, are you better
now?
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