Bracing for Impact in Paradise: Tips on how best to Prepare and Survive a Hurricane in the Caribbean

Riding a hurricane in the Caribbean is not something we like doing. As someone who has survived some of these storms, I want to share with you what I have about preparing, surviving, and about life after a hurricane in the hopes that these tips help you stay safe and sound. Hear firsthand what it's like to brace for a storm,  why the first week of September is especially stressful, and the role you can play as a visitor to these affected islands.

Ready to learn some unexpected hurricane survival skills? Discover how best to keep your beloved pets safe before, during, and after a storm, and the surprising use of melatonin in keeping them calm. Get yours here.

Then, we'll go through the must-dos on the day of the storm, from unplugging electronics to keep them from frying to spraying humble WD40 in keyholes to prevent them from rusting shut. I'll also throw light on the less-talked-about things like a neighborhood watch.

But that's not all. We'll also discuss the delicate balance of tourism post-disaster and the unintended consequences of selfish selfies amongst someone's shattered dreams. Plus, I'll share the truth behind the heartbreaking reality of pets abandoned during hurricane evacuations. Lastly, I'll share my personal experiences and survival hacks from living through several Caribbean hurricanes. So, buckle up for this insightful episode on Paradise Perspectives, where we brave the storm together. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review to stay connected through all of life's hurricanes.

Pre-Order your e-Guide to St. Maarten by sending an email to booking@thetravelingislandgirl.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to Paradise Perspectives, a podcast about Caribbean travel from the locals perspective, and get ready for some authentic Caribbean travel tips, recommendations and more from the people who live where you vacation, Straight from Paradise. I'm your host and island friend, rizal the Traveling Island Girl. Welcome, my fellow Paradise seekers to a very necessary bonus episode of Paradise Perspectives. I'm your host, rizal aka the Traveling Island Girl, and today we're going to dive into a very important topic, and that is the topic of hurricane preparedness in the Caribbean. Yes, I know I'm a little late in the game, because the hurricane season has started since June, but now that we're in September, at the time of recording this episode we're on. I think it's the 5th of September today, so it is the crucial time where we see a lot of activity out in the Atlantic. So this bonus episode is for everybody who lives in the Caribbean as an expat or as a local, of course, and whether you are thinking of moving to the Caribbean, this episode will be important to you as well, and also for you visitors that you know love all of these islands or are thinking of traveling to the Caribbean, and especially the Caribbean islands that are in the hurricane belt. You want to keep listening until the end, because I'm also sharing some tips on what visitors can avoid doing when they visit a hurricane affected area. Okay so, as someone who's weathered a few storms herself, including the very powerful beach of a storm called Hurricane Irma back in 2017, as a day I do ever want to repeat again I can tell you that I want to share with you some of the valuable insights and expertise that have accumulated after going through that experience, and you know I want. Hopefully, this will help you stay safe when modern nature decides it's time to tangle.

Speaker 1: 2:12

So it's right now. Like I said, it's the first week of September. It's the most stressful week of the year for us in Hurricane Belt. Personally, I love September. It is the time of year we get to relax before all of you snowboards start flocking down to the island to put us to work right. But, to be honest, we are also stressed for the entirety of the hurricane season. But this week is when there is usually the most activity in the Atlantic, and I'm recording this, like I said, Tuesday, september 5.

Speaker 1: 2:41

And as things stand right now, just like clockwork, the first week of September rolls in and we right now are expecting some weather around the 9th or the 10th of September. It's looking like something is forming right now. It's looking like it might become or I haven't checked for today yet it might have already intensified into a cat one. I'm not so sure so, but it does have a high probability of forming. Now, the shitty thing about living in the hurricane belt is whether you are hit or not. Of course, if you hit, it's very shitty, right, like we got impacted direct head on by Irma in 2017. But if we were not, then the shitty part is, if it's graces us, it's gonna. It's gonna impact somebody else. So there's always somebody that suffers at the hand of these damned hurricanes. So I want you guys to just if you are in the belt or and you've never been through a storm before, this is definitely the bonus episode that is so necessary so that you can get some valuable tips out of it. Actually, I should be preparing for this MPD storm right now, but I'm recording this podcast instead. So, anyway, I wanted to come on here and just really quick and share my knowledge of the hurricane preparedness that I you know, like I said, that I know of. Ironically, today, the 5th of September, march 28 years ago, that Seymartian was hit by what we thought then was the most horrific hurricane, and that was Hurricane Lewis in 1995. And tomorrow, like I said, would be the anniversary of Hurricane Irma. So, yes, it is definitely a week of stress.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Now, before we dive in this bonus episodes info and we unpack the meat of it, I want to make sure to tell you to please subscribe to Paradise Perspectives Podcasts so you never miss another episode. You know my episodes are always packed with authentic Caribbean travel tips. So, and you know, please also be kind, leave a review for me, because you know the reviews and you following and subscribing these is what makes it possible for me to come back, week after week, with more valuable information and travel tips to the Caribbean for you and your family and your friends. And, speaking of friends, if you have friends who also love the Caribbean as much as you do, go ahead and share this podcast with them so they too can get some valuable info out of it. And for you that is thinking of traveling to see Martin this year or next year, I have some important news I am extending my offer of the exclusive private island tour with me. So if you want to spend some time, this is the last season last season that I'm going to be offering this service. It's something that I plan to stop doing in summer of 2024. So if you are thinking of coming this way and you want to book some time with me, you can do so. Speaking of booking time, you can also book a consultation hour with me, in which we sit down and we discuss your itinerary where you should stay, what area is the best for you and your family or friends, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, even I also have a pre-arrival conscious service that you can benefit from. So, anyway, anything that you want to know about how I can help you, you can find that on my website. There is also very, very exciting news. You're the first one, and I'm going to tell this too, so drum rolls. I am launching my first e-guide to see Martin. That e-guide is coming out within a few weeks, so keep your eyes out for that. If you want to pre-reserve it, you can do so by going to my show notes and send me an email, and I'll make sure that you are one of the first ones to get your hands on it. All right, now let's get started.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Now here's my take on how I prepare for a hurricane, and what you should try to avoid doing right after the storm has passed. Now, before the storm hits, besides the usual boarding up of the house, stocking up on canned food, cleaning supplies, waterproof containers, industrial garbage bags, I mean see flashlights, candles, lanterns Speaking of candles, don't forget your citronella candles, because the mazis are going to be crazy during and after the storm. So there are a few other things, too, that tend to be overlooked when we're all stressing about a approaching storm. So this is tip number one the easy to miss pet essentials. Now, we tend to forget about the basic needs of our furry little friends when our own lives are put on jeopardy right it's. I mean, we're at risk, so we go into survival mode, and this is one of the things that everybody tends to forget.

Speaker 1: 7:32

I am a lover of animals, I love animals and I often put them before me. So for me, this was an important tip that I need that I feel I need to share also to pet owners out there Please, please, please, take responsibility of your pets, pets and lives. Keep them inside. Do not keep them tied to a tree outside and think that, because they're an animal, they know how to survive. There's plenty of dogs that died this way. Don't keep them outside in the house. Bring them inside, please. You want to have a designated room or area, perhaps your garage, where you can put them? Mine, I put them in the smallest room in the house. That's where I kept my dogs. I had six at a time, so you can imagine what we all went through. And besides, of course, stocking up on enough pet food, things like cat litter and pet medication, don't forget to pet medication.

Speaker 1: 8:29

Remember also to get training pads or the weewee pads for your dogs, because they might be holed up inside your house for quite some time. In my case, after the storm, our what do you call it? Our fence was blown down, so I couldn't just let the dogs out because they would run all over the neighborhood and get hurt, so we had to keep them inside the house for a very, very long time. So weewee pads came in very, very handy. And also, you want to have an emergency kit for your pets. Just like you have an emergency kit for yourself and for your family, you need to have one for the pet as well. The pet is part of your family. So, people, please take care of your animals and you know when you're getting ready for a storm. This is so, so essential.

Speaker 1: 9:13

You can get crates. I, for instance, I had leashes and a crate the crate. I used one of the big crates. I used to put the three cats inside, so they were kept together and they were safe. And I had the dogs with us in the smallest room of the house and we also had a crate on standby and leashes and everything in case we needed to seek for another shelter, in case something happened to the house and we needed to evacuate in the middle of the storm and take the dogs with us. You want to keep them on a leash during that time because if something happens, you need to be able to run with them as soon as possible. You don't want anything like having to look for leashes and all of that then, because you won't have the time and the dogs will go in their own separate directions if they're afraid. So you need to keep them on a leash.

Speaker 1: 10:00

Bonus tip for all of you pet parents out there get melatonin for pets. I had this and it was a life saver. I can tell you it kept them calm during the storm and it is also very natural and very safe. So go on Amazon or get those melatonin for pets I'm going to leave a link in the show notes in case you want those melatonin tablets for pets as well. It is much better than having those tranquilizer tablets. You do not want anything like that because you want the pet to still be alert in case of anything, right, all right.

Speaker 1: 10:36

So number two is pack a small bag. Make sure that you pack all of the essentials in a small bag for you and your family and your pets should have one of those like emergency bags filled up with their stuff as well. You know, a little bit of food, pet meds and stuff like that. And for you, change your underwear, change your clothes, passport, other important documents, your medication. Keep that bag with you during the storm at all times. And I had like a little backpack. That's where I kept all my shit in it and we were ready, like in case of anything. I just needed to grab the dog, grab the bag and go for it, right? So whatever room you decide to wait the storm out in, that is where you want to keep the waterproof. Yeah, of course, let's make sure that it's a waterproof bag, please, because you know it will be raining a lot during storms.

Speaker 1: 11:32

Right, okay, number three you want to gas up before the storm approaches and make sure that you do it. If you are tracking the storm and you're seeing that there is a possibility, do not wait until the last minute. Make up before it becomes like a madhouse. This is what happened to us with the approach of airman, like two days before there was lines and lines of car at the gas stations. So you want to avoid that by going a little bit early and gas up your cars. If you have multiple cars, gas all of them up. Now, here's the beauty of cars. This is where, what a lot of people forget You're not going to have electricity or running water right after the storm. So what we did and, of course, it being September, it's bloody hot we went in the car to cool down because we couldn't go anywhere anyway. So we might as well use the car for the AC and we use the car radio to, kind of like, stay informed of everything that was happening and when help was coming in and all of that good stuff. But so you want to make sure that your gas stop is what I want to say, just to make sure that your car is all gas stop, whether you end up using it or not, alright. So if you're gassing up your cars, you also need to cash in. Go to an ATM or bank. Make sure that you withdraw enough cash, because it is very highly likely that the electricity and water will not be available right after, and it's in our case. We were without running water and electricity for weeks, so there is no such thing as a credit card machine working, there's no such thing as internet or anything for a while. So cash becomes king in that disaster time. Okay, so make sure that you have enough cash on you.

Speaker 1: 13:23

Number five multi-purpose water. Now, obviously, you know already we just spoke about it you're not going to have, you know, running water for a while, so you need to stock up, of course, on drinking water for yourself, your family and, of course, your pets. Let's not forget the pets. You need drinking water for everybody, and what a lot of people tend to forget is that you also need water for dishes, for cleaning, for the toilet and for the plants that may have survived the storm. Alright, so fill large containers. This is what we did. You can fill up. If you have a bathtub, excellent, fill that up with water. We took garbage bins and laid lined them with garbage bags and then we put a lot of water in there so that we had water. For you know, cleaning ourselves, for you know it was. I remember we had a joke six cups a day to wash yourself with For cleaning, of course, because, remember, you're going to want to clean your house afterwards. It just keeps you sane, believe me, it's coming up in the in this list somewhere. So, and by the time, by the time the storm is looming, then you'll be all set with water, you know. So another thing that you can do, too is, if you have an available container, put that outside after the storm, obviously, because sometimes there's going to be some rain afterwards, so you can start collecting rainwater. That rainwater can come in very, very handy as well. So keep a container outside just to collect rainwater. Now we're moving down to the day of the storm, and this is tip number six.

Speaker 1: 15:01

You want to clean out the fridge. You want to throw out or, if you already know it's coming, try to consume as much as possible from your fridge so that anything that is going to be staying in the fridge does not go bad. Because we already spoke a couple of times about electricity falling out. So you need that fridge. Of course is not going to be working unless you've got a generator your lucky SOB in that case and of course you know, keep your fridge as it is. But if you don't, if you're like one like me and we don't have a generator, then definitely you know, clean up your fridge. Take everything that is going to go bad. You want to consume it, eat it, you want to eat it. And if you do have some things left over in the fridge, eat them up as soon as the storm passes. Make sure that those are things that you eat first. Get it out of the way so they don't go bad, because it's a shame, right, all of the stuff in your fridge we ended up because we were out of and without electricity for so long. We ended up using our fridge as a pantry. So yeah, so please clean out your fridge.

Speaker 1: 16:07

Number seven you want to charge up your phone on the day of the storm, just before the storm hits. Make sure that all of your devices, your phones, etc. Are charged, because you are not going to be able to charge anything for a while, and of course, in your car. So this is, of course, where the car comes handy again, you see. So you can charge up your car, your phone, in the car to make sure that if you don't have a charger for your car, that you get one. But charge up your phones, make sure that your phones are in working order and with enough battery power to go through the storm with, because if you need to make emergency calls or what not, you need to have that phone in working order. Also, another thing with the phones, the flashlight on your phone can come in very, very handy. So that's another reason to keep your phones all charged up.

Speaker 1: 17:02

Now, continuing with the day of the storm, hopefully by now you're all set with all of the pre-storm preparations and it's, of course, time to do last minute. Walk around the house. You want to make sure that everything is well barricaded. Go over your plan B, your plan C, your plan D. Make sure you have an evacuation plan in order that you know which neighbor you can run to in case of an emergency in the middle of the storm. Make sure that you know how to run to your neighbors or how to get there, or if there's an evacuation place clear or close to you, like one of those like emergency places that are set up for people who lose their roof. Make sure that you know how to get there the fastest way possible. So these are all things that you need to know, and you need to have this all planned out before, but on the day before the storm approaches, you want to go over your plans again and again to make sure that you have it. You want to also this is what a lot of people forget you want to also mentally prepare yourself for what is about to happen. This is like super fucking important. Okay, all right.

Speaker 1: 18:13

Number eight the smallest room in your house is the safest room. So think bathrooms, that little office space, or that, if you have like one of those built-in closets, or if you have like one of those walk-in closets again, you lucky SOP. You want to make sure you stock up that room with all of the essentials, like food, water, flashlights, lanterns, entertainment things like blankets not blankets, but tablets or playing cards, in case you need to like entertain kids, or what not, you know little toys for your dogs if they're too wild and they need a little bit calming down. Believe me, they will calm down once the noises start outside, though, and the melatonin tip that I just gave you. If you give them that melatonin pet chewy things, they will be calmer anyway, but still, you want to have all of these necessary things pillows, blankets, and just to make it a little bit more comfortable and as comfortable as possible, I should say, in that small room. Now, if you are not sure you're safe your roof is going to stay on you need to try to get a mattress in there with you as well, because the mattress is going to save you or keep you protected from flying debris in case the wind does come inside the house. Bring your mattress in there too.

Speaker 1: 19:38

Now, another bonus tip also have some essentials in other parts of the house. This is what I did, because if the roof starts going in one part, you need to kind of like run to another side of the house where you know it's safer than you want to have all your stuff already in there, so that all you need to carry is that backpack that we spoke about and your pets. So you want, of course, when I'm talking about pets, I'm also talking about your family. Don't forget your family in that other room. You want to make sure that you're running with your family too. So you want to have the little bit possible that you need to run with. So make sure that every room that you consider the safest in the house is already packed up with all of the essential stuff. And also, don't forget to set your Nellie candles in each room because, believe me, the mosquitoes are going to be rampant.

Speaker 1: 20:29

Number nine is to unplug. You want to unplug all electronics and cover them with plastic tarps or garbage bags. You want to keep them as safe as you can. Now listen, if the wind comes in there, it's going to come in there, so there's nothing you can do. It's going to probably get damaged regardless, because it's going to be tossed around in the most horrific scenario. Right, but if it's just a little leak and it starts leaking, then you want to make sure that your electronics don't go to waste. So unplug everything, including your fridge people, and put a tarp or a garbage bag over it.

Speaker 1: 21:06

Number 10, essential things to have is duct tape and WD40. And I'm going to tell you why. Before retreating inside your house, you want to spray WD40 inside keyholes of all your outdoors or all the doors that lead to the outside. You want to cover them afterwards with duct tape. This is to prevent the locks from rusting. This is something that I learned after Irma, unfortunately so I didn't get to do it in the store, but I remember that somebody you know gave this tip afterwards and I thought it was brilliant. So spray WD40 inside the lock, the keyholes of all the doors and then cover them with duct tape. This is especially the case if you're building or where you live, or whatever building it is that you own, is close to water.

Speaker 1: 21:58

All right, now we're moving on after the storm. Now, before we go into this list of what to do immediately after the storm, remember other things like portable radio, of course, to monitor the storm with and check to see you know, we spoke about this already your evacuation center, if there's one closest to you, etc. Etc. These are all things that you need to have had planned way before the storm, even before the day of the storm. So I just wanted to kind of reiterate that, because that's so important, you want to have a plan in case of the worst scenario. Very important, okay.

Speaker 1: 22:35

So now, this is what you need to remember immediately after the storm. Now, yeah, you've survived it and it could most probably be one of the worst days or nights of your life. Leave me, it definitely was mine. So you want to make sure that it is safe to go out before even opening those doors, but first you want to assess whatever damage could have occurred inside your house. So there could be leaks, there could be things that got tossed around, whatever it is, if there's nothing in your house to worry about, then you head on outside. But before you open that damn front door, people, I want to warn you, prepare yourself mentally for what you're about to see. Okay, I was not prepared, that's all I could tell you, and of course, I'm going from. You know, all of this information is what I got from having gone through category five, which, if it could have been six, it would have been a six, which is the bitch called Irma. It might not be for you one of those storms, but this all comes in very handy for you, regardless of what category you are about to experience or have experienced or want to prepare for. Alright.

Speaker 1: 23:50

So number 11 on our list, and this is one of the things that you need to do immediately after the storm, once you get outside, is check on your neighbors. You want to make sure that your neighbors are okay. So what we did is we just stood at the perimeter of our area or at where it was still safe, where we could still see that it wasn't a lot of debris or whatnot, and we just shouted out to our neighbors to make sure that they were okay. So you want to make sure that if they need assistance, you can jump in and help them out. When you're doing this, of course, make sure that you are wearing supportive shoes, because nothing it's like. Really, you do not want to be walking outside the house with open toes and flip flops and whatnot. Believe me, you are going to get hurt. There's going to be a lot of nails, debris, glass everywhere. So, please, and also, do not let your pets go out before you clean the area where they're going to be at, okay, because there's a lot of shit that flies around. You don't want your pets to get hurt, jump on a nail or something like that either. Believe me, it's not an additional stress. That you want and also and this is something from my personal experience is you want to clear the debris as soon as possible and also check for dead animals. In my case, there was a dead iguana in our backyard. I did not see it. I didn't know about it until it was too late. One of my dogs went and ate that dead iguana that's been probably dead for two days and got himself botulism and got paralyzed and almost died. So I almost lost my dog and, believe me, you do not want that extra stress when you're already stressing about so much. All right.

Speaker 1: 25:33

Number 13 on our list is Start a Neighborhood Watch. Looting, unfortunately, is one of those muddard fudgers, unavoidable evils that happen everywhere after any catastrophic event. So you want to team up with your neighbors and you want to keep your neighborhood safe from unwanted visitors, looters. I'm not going to say that you're going to be unsafe. I'm not going to say that you're definitely going to be robbed or looters are going to come into your house and try to steal your shit. I don't know what the situation is where you are, but you want to start a neighborhood watch. Also, another reason for doing so, believe me, is that everything's going to be pitch black, unless you have a neighbor, like what we did, two houses down, that was lucky enough to have a generator and had his whole house brightly lit up like a Christmas freaking tree in the middle of the neighborhood. Everybody else is not going to have electricity either, so it's going to be pitch black outside. So having your neighbors keeping an eye out for you and your family is not a bad thing to do, right, all right, moving on to number 14.

Speaker 1: 26:37

Like I said, you want to clean your house. I found that cleaning the house after the storm for me personally helped me with my sanity. It gave me something to do because there was so much that is completely out of your control after, before etc. And during the storm that you want to. This is the little thing that I could control and in our case, fortunately, we didn't lose the roof, so we still had a house. So I was able to clean the house after and organize everything so that it felt like a home again, because, you can imagine, everything was boarded up. There's no sunlight coming in, there's everything's in garbage bags everywhere. It was a shit show. So I just wanted to get as organized as possible, and also what we locals say cleaning your house is an excellent way of getting rid of the bad juju. You know you don't want no bad karma remaining in your house after a hurricane.

Speaker 1: 27:35

Number 15 on our list today is don't forget that sharing is scary. Your neighbors will become your best friend during those first few days and weeks after a hurricane, believe me, and it's. This might sound sound very strange for someone who hasn't been through it, but I had a really nice sense of community after Irma. I missed that time, to be honest. We were so close with our neighbors. You know everybody was taking care of each other. We went on potluck events that we had. You know, when you're clearing your fridge of all stuff and you're trying to cook as much as possible so it doesn't go to waste, people were inviting us over for snacks and drinks and everybody was just keeping together. It was so nice. That sense of community was very special. And, of course, as soon as we had running water and an attest to you again, everybody shot themselves down in their houses with AC. So that sense of community was only there for the few weeks after and we didn't really get that back until, I guess, the next time catastrophe hits right. So remember, sharing is caring.

Speaker 1: 28:46

So when you are stocking up the food in your house, make sure that you stock up extra, because you never know what can happen to your neighbor if they are in need of something afterwards. At least you have extra so you can share. Okay, and another bonus tip on this list is to, immediately afterwards, you want to go around the house and take pictures of all the damages, not only of your house, but also of your vehicles, because, believe me, flying debris is probably gonna be devastating your car too, which is another reason why I'm telling you to stock up on gas, because you might not be driving anywhere, but you can use the car for everything else. So, yeah, take pictures and have it all documented, well documented, because, believe me, those F-ing insurance companies are trying to try their best not to pay out everything, all right. So you want to document everything and make sure that you have proof and evidence. So take those damn pictures Now.

Speaker 1: 29:50

As promised, I wanted to also discuss a few things for visitors that visitors need to know. I need to tell you this because this is one of those things that really irritated me a little bit after Hurricane Irma. If you insist to visit the hurricane or devastation affected area right after it has been hit or right after it has happened, please be considerate and kind and be there to land a hand. If you are not going to land a hand and help rebuild, then you have no fucking business being there. All right, let me be completely bluntly honest with you. You have no reason for going. You will be so shocked to know how many people were actually traveling to Samaritan when the airport reopened, just to be in the devastation and gawk at people's destroyed homes and businesses and take goddamn selfie pictures.

Speaker 1: 30:52

I'm sorry, I'm getting so mad when I'm recounting this. It is so unethical and it is so unnecessary. Why would you do this? It's like you are deliberately taking selfies with remnants of somebody's dreams. Somebody used to live in that house. They found themselves homeless after that and here you are taking selfies. So please don't be inconsiderate. Stay at home. Don't come to the Caribbean affected areas or don't come to the affected areas in the Caribbean if you have no reason to be there.

Speaker 1: 31:29

At the same time, we are very, very happy to receive visitors when it is possible for you to travel to the Caribbean again. So remember that tourism is the main pillar of economy for a lot of us, including us here on Samaritan. So if you want to visit and support that way, we will gladly welcome you back or welcome you for the first time. But please make sure that when you do decide to travel to the affected area, that you do so after everything has started to run normally again and that everybody has a sense of normalcy again, no matter how many years, like tomorrow, like I said, is the sixth year, or the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Irma.

Speaker 1: 32:19

It's six freaking years ago that we got hit by the hurricane and until today I am still getting questions from potential visitors that are like why is everything back to normal after the hurricane? And I'm like, oh my God, it's been six freaking years. Yes, we're open to business. Everything works fine. We've been open to business after the September 6th incident. We were back in business by December. We had to. We depend on tourism. We really had to.

Speaker 1: 32:50

But I don't blame these potential visitors for that, because every time you type in Samaritan or any other affected area, like I'm sure, those islands in the Bahamas that got devastated the year after us by that hurricane, they probably are getting this question too. I mean, Port Myers is probably getting it from last year too. Is your constantly forgetting that question asked? I cannot blame them, and here's why you type in Samaritan into Google and some, of course, you get the images of the planes landing over Malho Beach and some of the beautiful beach photos, but you always always get at least one or two pictures in there of the devastation that was left behind from Irma. So I can imagine that people are still thinking it's a thing not to mention that whenever the media drop or wants to pick up a story about Samaritan, they have to mention they feel like they need to mention how they got devastated back in 2017. They're like, okay, we have enough PTSD of our own to recount that freaking story over and over again. We don't need the media to help out with it.

Speaker 1: 33:56

And one thing for especially expats, that is another thing that was that really, really hurt my soul to see is how many people left their dogs and cats locked up in their houses when they fled the country, when they fled to go back to their big screen, internet AC areas and they left their house here in the Caribbean. Remember that a lot of locals don't have that opportunity. We're just going to have to stick around with our own houses and see how we deal, instead of staying and helping. A hand to those who could listen. If you want to like, evacuate your kids and your wife, I can totally understand that, but understand that your help is also needed in rebuilding the country.

Speaker 1: 34:45

But leaving your pets behind. And I can tell you, right after the storm, when the evacuation planes were leaving, I cannot tell you how many countless pets that were roaming around the airport because people left them behind. People were taking their dogs to take them with them and then when they got denied boarding this evacuation plane, they had to leave the dogs behind. I know this is a sensitive area for a lot of people because you want to get out. What if you lost everything? You had the opportunity to leave. I get that, but your pet is your family. There must be a way, people that you can approach that might be able to help you with your pet. So try everything before you get on that plane and just let the leash go and let the animal be roaming for days looking for you around the airport. It is just inconsiderate.

Speaker 1: 35:33

Now, that was a little bit longer than I anticipated for a bonus episode, but these tips can be a lifeline when facing a hurricane in the Caribbean. So remember, preparation is key. We cannot control the weather, but we can control how we react to it and how we prepare for it. So that's it for me today. That's it for this bonus episode of Paradise Perspectives. I hope you found these hurricane preparedness tips very helpful, and remember that we're all in this together. The Caribbean people are so effing resilient. I mean, I'm so proud of being a Caribbean person because I know how resilient we are.

Speaker 1: 36:14

So if you have any questions or you want to share your own hurricane preparedness tips, then please reach out to me on social media Instagram, facebook and all you need to type in is the Traveling Island girl. You can find my website as well. All of that will be, of course, linked, as per usual, in the show notes. Stay safe in this hurricane season. If you happen to be in the Caribbean or in the hurricane belt, stay safe, because we're going to go through the last two months of this shit show and then it's clear skies ahead, everybody. So until next time. I am Briselle, the Traveling Island girl, wishing you clear skies, sandy beaches and unforgettable Caribbean adventures. Bye.