Hurricane blues

Bahama Reef Condominiums under repairs. 

How long does it take to get over the destruction of a hurricane?

There are many aspects of recovery and although sometimes we have money right away to throw as the problem, the psychological aspects of it stays much longer.

In Grand Bahama over ten years ago three devastating hurricanes hit the island after three years of lull and before that a forty year break.

The generations the have experienced the hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma had never really seen such powerful storms and the recovery with no water for weeks after, much less power, etc, was unheard of in this paradise.

Felix in 1999 which was a really wet hurricane came close but did not hit the mark.

Then came Matthew last October. In some persons minds they are tired of hearing of an excuse called Hurricane Matthew but there are people still having nightmares from the storm. There are people who thought they got over it well... and were not affected but a little rain and the fear returns.

Physically, some have been immobilized and cannot feel anything real despite the damage done to their homes and are just blindly going on.

Insurance payouts has helped some, while others have heard they are under insured which means you cannot received any payment even up to the amount you are insured while brings further injuries from the storm.

This time around, the power returned for most people almost immediately and so did water. Many organizations galvanized themselves to help those who did not have and those simply in need. It was a great community effort and by Christmas some felt the island of Grand Bahama was back to some normalcy. 

The trauma lives on... but we need to see the sun and the greenery that returned at least a month later. 

We can look at the devastation and be depressed or we can make up our minds to do the little that we can one stick at a time, and rebuild with a better idea and greater plans for the future. We can! We must! 

Hurt and devastation taught me that life continues even when you are not ready for it. Keep moving. Make a difference.