- Updates from the Islands -

- - Turks & Caicos Islands - -

- - - 2011 Hurricane Season - - -

- Roads back to normal by Friday afternoon on Provo

By "Robert Sonderman" <robertsonderman at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:15:52 -0430

Title: Roads back to normal by Friday afternoon on Provo

Only minor puddles remain. Easily more than 24 inches of rain during as many hours. Most houses were flooded by wind-driven rain leaking in through inconceivable cracks. High praise heard on island for good work by power and phone companies. Most businesses reopened Thursday afternoon and today. Robert

Robert Sonderman,

Robertsonderman at gmail.com

- Aftermath

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 07:42:09 -0400

I hope everyone knows the 2 Gringos blog, they were a bit closer than Pine Cay, 
and it looks like they got more impact from Irene:

Preparation:
http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2011/08/hurricane-irene-part-1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+2GringosInTheCaribbean+%282+Gringos+in+the+Caribbean%29

Aftermath
http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2011/08/hurricane-irene-part-2.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+2GringosInTheCaribbean+%282+Gringos+in+the+Caribbean%29

I've got some videos up from the two days at Pine Cay, I took the cameras off 
"sun tracking" mode and fixed them at the shoreline:

http://geekho.com/wandaweather/2011-08-23_PTZCam.mp4 (Tuesday, clouds roll in, 
wind and rain pick up)
http://geekho.com/wandaweather/2011-08-24_PTZCam.mp4 (Wednesday, wind and rain 
taper off)

And another view:
http://geekho.com/wandaweather/2011-08-23_PTZ2Cam.mp4
http://geekho.com/wandaweather/2011-08-24_PTZ2Cam.mp4

Looks like we had one "finger cactus' tip over and a couple of feet of storm 
surge, but nothing too significant.  My power monitoring seems to indicate that 
the sump pump in "GeekHo Lake", a hollow that fills with rainwater and covers 
the driveway, is running to drain that out.  As far as I can tell and according 
to the few reports I've heard, there's no major damage on Pine Cay, just 
flooded roads and a few trees down and some minor vegetation damage.

I could see the lights of Provo in my webcams last night, so there's (no 
surprise) power on in places, but I've heard some brief reports of power that's 
not yet been restored, and roads that are still impassable.

Looks like the weather is back to normal, now it's just a question of cleanup 
and preparation for whatever the rest of hurricane season brings us.

And of course, those of us in the Northeast are bracing for Irene to visit us 
with rain, wind, and some potentially significant storm surge.

- Hurricane Irene

By Norma Jackson <ejacksonnorma at hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:10:10 +0000

We were glad to say "Goodnight Irene". We were lucky the hurricane was a category one when it passed close to Provo. Even though the eye was not directly over us it was such a huge storm the winds and rain lasted over 24 hours. Last weekend we were expecting a tropical storm and it was quite a surprise to us when we heard the forecast and how quickly it was approaching us. Proves we have to be ready in hurricane season.

The winds intensified about l0:00 a.m. Tuesday August 23 and things quickly went downhill after that. It was not safe to be outside at all after 5:00 p.m. that evening. We had to take our dogs out during the afternoon, otherwise we would not have been out at all. I don't know how many inches of rain we had but we had more than 24 hours of it.

Downtown Provo in the vicinity of Island Pride looked like a lake. Someone posted a picture of people in a boat in that parking lot. Cars were trying to go through the water and not making it. The airport road was flooded. The road to Five Cays, South Dock and Silly Creek were impassable. The water is receding today but there are still various trouble spots. We spotted some people driving on the wrong side of the road on Leeward Highway to avoid the water, a very dangerous thing to do.

We were lucky that we did not lose power,internet or telephone service in our area. We kept losing the U.S. weather channel signal at crucial points and were lucky we had internet to rely on their information for the status of the storm. We were very disappointed in the Caribbean weather network as it seemed to be behind in its reportings. That was very frustrating as most people who have the cable boxes from WIV only have that station to rely on. We have a TV not hooked up to the high definition receiver, cable only, and we watched the weather channel when we could on that TV to be up to date. At time we would have lots of pixels and no sound on that station. We need reliable information under such stressful situations.

Our prayers and thoughts have to be with the Bahamas and then the U.S. on the weekend.

- Please not Irene

By yamahatci at gmail.com
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:43:48 +0000

Oh man I feel bad for the Bahamas. Irene seemed to be just a big pain in the 
butt for Grand Turk. I say seemed as so far I have not heard of any serious 
damage other than to power and communications. Some flooding and some trees and 
some poles down but after Ike, pretty easy. 
Please Irene, easy on the Bahamas, please.     
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- Please not Irene

By yamahatci at gmail.com
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:28:46 +0000

Thank you TCU and Lime. Both power and internet now. That was quick. 
HolyMoly, Irene has grown up since I last saw her. That is scary. To Bob and 
Jane in Abaco, stay safe, as well as all others in Irene's reach. 
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- What a dance it has been!!

By Edgar Howell <howelledgar at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:34:22 +0100 (BST)

After guessing at what Irene may have been up to, the story can be told. It was definitely 'come close, let's touch.'

The islands in the chain took a lashing from the winds and stinging rains of Irene yesterday, last night and most of the morning. From about 1:00 this morning until about 5:30, Providenciales was pelted with strong hurricane force winds and rains coming down in sheets. One report is that someone on the ridge in the South Dock area recorded a wind gust of around 116 mph (shortly after 8 pm).

Once the winds started out of the east in the early hours of the morning, the water got piled onto the Caicos bank and began pouring over the southern coast of Providenciales. Sea water covered the road near the bypass to Five Cays in the vicinity of SmithCo. gas station and the round-a-bout to Five Cays, cutting off passage to Five Cays, South Dock, Sapollida Bay and Chalk Sound. Flood waters covered the entire downtown area and flowed west into Kew Town. The canal adjacent the road to Discovery Bay and Cooper Jack Hill, overflowed its banks and hid the sections of the road from view. Venetian Road, in the area of South Side Marina, was also covered by sea water pouring in from Lake Sahara (central Turtle Tail). Sea water in the Caicos Marina and Shipyard area breached the bank and flowed into the Long Bay Hills Canal. Most of the usually dry ground in that area was under water. It is estimated that the storm surge must have been 6 feet during high tide.

Several roads are flooded with up to 18 inches of water (water was as deep as 24 inches in some areas). In the Long Bay Hills one section of the the road looked like a canal of approximately 500 feet in length. There is one confirmed report of severe damage to a roof in the Five Cays area. Shrub and twigs are scattered along some roadways and trees are down in some sections of the island. There are no reports of significant damage to buildings and, at this time, there are no reports of injuries sustained as a result of the hurricane.

Amazingly, a significant portion of the island had electricity, telephone, cable and internet access throughout the strong winds of Irene. Residents in Blue Hills, on the northwestern coast of Providenciales, were without electicty since yesterday afternoon. Portions of Five Cays were also without electricity since yesterday. Some residents are now reporting that city water is unavailable.

The flooding associated with Irene will probably be the thing that will be remembered for a while. North Caicos reported heavy rainfall throughout the passage of Irene and rain continues at the time of writing this report - a few trees are down across the island and this may be the case for Middle Caicos as well. Grand Turk reported very strong winds and rain. Flooding is also an issue on Grand Turk - there are a few trees down but no major damage to homes and other buildings. Reports are that some residents on Grand Turk spent the night without electricity as a result of the strong winds.

A video link of the situation on Providenciales will be made available later this afternoon.

I trust our friends and families in the Bahama islands have taken the necessary precautions and are well prepared for Irene's visit.

Good night Irene. It's time to go!

- Added rain graph

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 07:49:06 -0400

OK, so now there's a "Cumulative Rainfall" graph at 
http://dotnetdotcom.net/push/ for your edification.  The totals are reset to 
zero at midnight, so that's why there's a "glitch" in the steadily rising 
rainfall totals.

Looks like it's still storming pretty heavily on Pine Cay, the wind has died 
down a bit but it's pouring rain.

More News As It Happens!

- Looks like it peaked around 4AM (on Pine Cay)

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 06:40:13 -0400

I was getting automated notifications of about an inch an hour of rainfall, and 
it looks like that rainfall rate is continuing (hmm, maybe a rainfall 
graph....).

Wind speed seems to have peaked around 4AM at just over 70MPH.  Provo's a bit 
closer to the eye, so they probably got a bit more.

The sun is just coming up now, and I'm not seeing any significant vegetation 
damage or storm surge, though the worst of the wind-driven storm surge is 
probably still to come as the wind comes around to the south and piles the 
water up on the bank.

All in all, not as bad as it could have been, and I feel fortunate to have had 
power (Yay, Pine Cay!) and Internet (Yay, LIME!) all along.

- Salt Cay Report

By Michele Belanger-McNair <saltcay at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:59:54 -0700

I just spoke with life long residents in the South District of Salt Cay. He and his wife liken the storm to Hurricane Hanna….lots of rain and wind. Maurice told me wind speeds were 85-90 mph with gusts at 105 mph at times. There is no power at the moment. Other report sources are that some poles/lines are down and some trees. I am told by Maurice that they did not have lightening nor have they had, to his knowledge any tornado activity. There appears to be lots of water, but no visible flooding from their vantage point. From his home he does not see any roof issues. It is still raining and they believe it should let up around 4 am. Their telephone landline was still working but cutting out. I will call tomorrow morning for an update, assuming landlines are working. Cell lines were jammed. There is no alarm in their reporting as I talked with them for a few minutes.

- Wind Picking up

By s.hunt at digicel.blackberry.com
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:28:19 +0000

Well Irene has been pounding us for a good while now but within the last hour 
she seems to have brought her full force with heavy rain and strong wind and 
gusts. 

So far power has stayed on in my area of Turtle Cove, Provo. But I hear other 
parts are out. I have to say so far a great job by Fortis, our power company 
and pleasantly surprised as I thought they might have gone down all over the 
island. So great job there guys and girls. 

Will give you an update later or in the morning as I'm off to cook so BIG food. 

Stay safe. 

Sam. 
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- Night falls, but the windspeed doesn't

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:25:55 -0400

The Pine Cay webcams are black at http://dotnetdotcom.net/push/ and are not 
even showing the lights of Provo, but the graphs there show the windspeed 
leveling off.  I suspect this is the lull before the storm, as the eye is about 
56 miles south of Provo.  http://stormcarib.com/closest.cgi says it'll be 
another 10 hours till closest approach, but there's enough uncertainty in the 
track that she might pass right over Provo or might go due west towards Great 
Inagua.

http://geekho.com/wanda/ is now showing rainfall, though it's impossible to 
tell how accurate it is.  If something was stuck in the tipping mechanism and 
it's unstuck now then it might be accurate again.

If the power and Internet stay on all night we'll be able to see how windspeed 
and rainfall go, and daylight will give us an idea of how the vegetation 
survived.  Otherwise I'll harvest the weather data and report on windspeed and 
rainfall totals when the Internet does come back.

- Update

By Jodi Taylor <miatajodi at msn.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:58:20 -0400

Irene is really starting to pick up steam now. Very high winds with great gusts. Rain steady but not a down pour.

Jodi Taylor
SNUBA TCI

- Update

By Edgar Howell <howelledgar at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:16:49 +0100 (BST)

Grand Turk is reporting very heavy rain and strong winds consistent with the regrouping notion earlier and the formation of a well define eye. The northern edge of the system is passing over Salt Cay, Grand Turk and South Caicos now. The rest of the country can expect strong winds and rain within the next two hours. There are confirmed reports of down power lines in the Blue Hills area of Providenciales.

- Please not Irene

By yamahatci at gmail.com
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:12:01 +0000

Grand Turk getting lashed by winds and heavy rains. Some power outages but we 
still have power and internet. For now. This is already a long day and Irene 
has not reached her closest point. But when she does it will be just after high 
tide.  That may be a problem. Kirk
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- Irene's Dance

By Edgar Howell <howelledgar at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:01:59 +0100 (BST)

Irene has been anything but predictable so far. Like Ike, she seems to have an interest in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Unlike Ike however, the interest appears to be a close encounter with the western end of the country. She cannot make up her mind - 'come close, don't touch', or 'come here baby, let me feel your body close to mine.'

Whatever happens, residents across the country have made their final preparations: shutters are in place; food items and water bought and stored; vehicles have their quota of gasoline; and emergency supplies, should conditions warrant, are easily accessible. We are prepared (I hope) to face de music, again. The Department for Disaster Management and Emergencies opened shelters at 9 this morning and at this time some food stores and other supply outlets are closing their doors for the day as conditions deteriorate.

From the look of things, Irene is either regrouping or losing steam on her northern edge. Will we sing 'Goodnight Irene or will we tell a different story by the time this one is done? Stay safe!

Current conditions: windy with rain.

- Please not irene

By yamahatci at gmail.com
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:17:38 +0000

The winds have increased steadily through the night. This morning the gusts are 
in the 50s where we are. I am sure higher at sea. Since Irene is now closer we 
are now looking forward to hurricane force winds versus previously anticipated 
tropical storm winds. Not good. Not good at all.  Kirk
 
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- No great forecast change, Irene pretty scary...

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:54:24 -0400

The barometric pressure continues to fall (graph at 
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=IPINECAY2 ), 
and the wind is picking up, with what looks like intermittent rainfall (*) at 
http://dotnetdotcom.net/push/

The 5AM forecast has Irene passing within about 35 miles of Provo, which is 
slightly closer than the previous forecast, but with hurricane force winds at 
50 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds at 200 miles from the 
center, that's not a very useful distinction.  In fact, a close pass from the 
south and west is about as bad as it gets, the wind will be piling the water up 
on the bank (and enhancing the storm surge), and the worst winds are to the 
North/East of the center.

The good news is that the intensity forecast has backed off slightly (solid 
Category-2, maximum wind 110MPH), and the storm surge is "9 to 13 feet", which 
would still cause major inundation.  I don't expect much change in the 8AM 
forecast, but this is going to be a serious storm with major damage.

(*) My rain sensor doesn't seem to be working, though I checked it just before 
I left in early August.  Sigh.

Now if the internet will only stay up...

Willie

- Please NOT Irene

By Captn K <yamahatci at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:40:27 -0400

NHC has bumped Irene a little closer to the Turks & Caicos Islands,
again. I wish they would stop doing that. Sorry about that Inagua. It
certainly looks like Western portion of TCI and Inagua will be dealing
with some very bad weather. I hope they are ready. I never feel ready
anymore. There are just so many vagaries to deal with. Too many
unknowns. What did I forget? What could I have done better. Our little
personal world has managed a lot of hurricanes in the last 40 years,
with little loss. Which year is going to be different? The satellite
is showing the far outer reaches of Irene just touching Grand Turk &
Salt Cay and the winds are gusting strong in typical pattern, but not
much rain here yet. Sleep well everyone. Tomorrow will not be fun.
Kirk

- Irene's forecast track getting closer

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 23:21:05 -0400

The 11PM (EST) forecast for Irene has her slowing down (now passing Wednesday 
evening, will my webcams never be useful during a hurricane? 8*), getting 
stronger (121MPH forecast, a solid Category 3), and getting closer (now 
forecast only 43 miles from Provo at closest approach).

Looks like whatever happens the TCI is in for some stormy weather!

- Irene Strengthens

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:37:07 -0400

Earlier today Irene was forecast to have 100MPH winds on Tuesday afternoon when 
she had her closest point of approach to the TCI.

She just hit 100MPH, and is now forecast for 120MPH on Tuesday afternoon, 
somewhere between Category 2 and Category 3.

Let's hope she stays off to the south!  Some of the "spaghetti models" have her 
passing directly over the TCI.  That would be bad.

Willie

- Irene. Irene. Ireneeeeeee

By s.hunt at digicel.blackberry.com
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:02:37 +0000

Hi Gert and All. 

So far Irene has given us a quick blast which lasted for about 10 minutes while 
I was having lunch at Sharkbite watching my team Spurs lose. It must have been 
one of the first outta bands to reach us. I think we will start feeling her 
powers a bit later this evening. 

I'm off to do a few more house checks for people who are off Island and then go 
out for a few pre-hurricane beers at sharkbite. 

Will keep you all updated as and when we start feeling Ms Irene's effects. 

Stay safe all. 

Sam. 
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- Please not Irene

By yamahatci at gmail.com
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:26:25 +0000

Thanks for the reminder Gert. Grand Turk was graced by two cruise ships today 
so all the excursion people will be working late tonight. The rains have 
already started in bands and we had gusts that blew potted plants over. Do not 
hear the usual saws and hammers. Hope everyone takes Irene serious. Internet 
goes down every rain shower, not news here, try to keep updated with the phone. 
Fingers n toes crossed. Kirk
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- Irene, Irene, Irene!

By Edgar Howell <howelledgar at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:34:02 +0100 (BST)

The outer fringes of Hurricane Irene are beginning to affect the islands of the Turks and Caicos chain. Residents are taking the necessary precautions and following the instructions of the Department for Disaster Management and Emergencies. Government offices have been ordered closed for tomorrow and some international flights have been cancelled for tonight and tomorrow. Traffic at gas stations gives is an indication of the final preparations before nightfall in these parts. A weather station on the northern side of Providenciales recorded a wind gust of 34mph in a band of showers earlier this afternoon. The real mccoy is expected at some point tomorrow!

Current conditions at Providenciales: Temp: 78.8F; Winds: NE at 23mph; Barometric pressure: 29.87 inches.

- Irene is trending towards the TCI!

By William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:22:31 -0400

Well, Irene was supposed to pass the TCI well to the south, but her forecast track has been trending northwards pretty much all day, which is disconcerting for us. Right now we're definitely in line for Tropical Storm winds (39MPH), an even chance of 50 KNOT winds (58MPH), and maybe a 10% chance of hurricane-force winds (74MPH).

Of course, my weather station at http://geekho.com/wanda/ has already seen 43MPH, so I'd say Tropical Storm winds are pretty much guaranteed. 8*)

Pictures from my webcams are repeated at http://dotnetdotcom.net/push/ if anyone's interested, and I'll put some of my weather graphs up there too.

The NHC says the closest approach to the TCI will be early tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon. The worst case for storm surge would be a close pass to our south and west, as this causes the water to pile up on the bank, as it did during Hannah a few years back.

More News As It Happens!

- Emily - Here a little, there a little!

By Edgar Howell <howelledgar at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 02:26:17 +0100 (BST)

Residents throughout the country are finalizing preparation for the visit of or close encounter with Emily. It appears that the storm will be more of a rain event provided she holds together as she crosses Hispaniola.

Back to top