I have so many messages of concern - thanks for your prayers and
positive
thoughts. I will write this one report on Hurricane Keith and then send
a
bulk reply to everyone. Saturday, September 30th - only a week ago, but
it
seems like a month, we thought Keith was just a tropical storm, winds of
50 - 70 mph. We were told that any strong house should stand up to this,
so
there was no need to evacuate. I made all hurricane preparations just in
case. But the wind just kept increasing.
That night at 9 PM we lost electricity. By morning it was 90 mph and by
late
afternoon we were in a category 4 hurricane, 135 mph. That kept up until
Monday morning when it suddenly went calm at 9 AM. That was 18 ours of
hurricane force winds, then the eye was over us for 8 hours before the
wind
picked up again. I didn't venture far because there was a 12-foot surge
predicted for the other side of the hurricane, but I did get the water
cleaned out of my room and spread out the bedding and other things to dry.
I
was alone in a two-story wooden
building, which didn't even shake until we got above 90 mph. But after
that
it was frightening! Fortunately, we never got that 12-foot surge. The
second
half was only 80 - 90 mph and seemed like nothing in comparison.
The wind mostly came from the west, so the damage is worst on the back
side
of the island. Many, many houses are totally destroyed, one or two are
just
missing. There are empty lots with coconut trees down and no sign of the
house that was there. Since most of the hotels are on the front side,
there
is less damage to them. Everyone has water damage. The rain came right
through the walls and louvered windows, just like a sieve. Most of the
remaining healthy coconut trees are down, but the ones already dying of
lethal yellow disease had little at the top, so they remain as stark
telephone poles. But the true telephone poles are not standing. Those
with
transformers are broken off, many others are down or leaning. The whole
Caye
will have to be rewired. At first glance it looked like it would take
months.
But then the help arrived. It is wonderful! We have the Red Cross feeding
us
and bringing out supplies, the Belize Defense Force cutting trees off of
houses,British and Canadian disaster relief workers working on the
lines.
I've revised my estimate of when we will have electricity again to a
couple
of weeks. Caye Caulker will definitely be ready for the tourist season.
By
November we should be completely back in operation. Already there are
two
restaurants and a couple of shops open. Some hotels are dried out and
cleaned up. Caye Caulker folks are resiliEnt. We were back from Mitch
within
a week, but this is much worse!
The first day we were all just glad to be alive. And then the clean up
started.I have been working hard to clean up. Again, Shirley is gone. I
was
waiting for her to come home so I could leave to go to Belize City so I
could
communicate with the outside world. She still hasn't come back yet, but
I
went to Belize just for a few hours to check email and send a few
messages.
I know there are people who are anxious fOR some news.
Peggy MacDonald
AmbergrisCaye.com 
