Tricia was released from jail on Friday and is now in Maine! Bruce called to tell us she was on her way to his house. On Saturday I called and talked to Tricia. She said the whole matter was dropped. The reason she had been arrested was because her lawyer didn’t appear in court as he promised to and a bench warrant was issued. So she is now free and clear of all charges and will be spending 40 days in Maine and San Francisco before coming home. THANK GOD!!!
I guess I should stop extending my trailer awning. The 1st time I did it was a few days after arriving in Dangriga. I was prepared for windy days as I had purchased several of those spiral dog leash holders that screw into the ground and a couple of come-along straps to stiffen the awning. That night we had a tremendous thunderstorm that actually pulled 1 of the holders out of the ground and snapped the other. I was sure that I’d find my awning in tatters. Well today (Thursday 9/23) I partially extended it to provide a bit more shade in the afternoons. Peter came by and gave me the news that a yet to be names tropical storm was headed our way. So tonight I had to untie the awning and retract it again. What are the odds that the 2 times I’ve extended it are the 2 times huge storms have hit???
Peter and I spent Friday preparing Kismet and my trailer for Matthew. We figured we’d get everything done today so we don’t have to do it on the rain on Saturday. We moved chairs, lounges, tables, and anything else that could become missiles in hurricane force winds into the tool room or under the building. We placed my gas generator high up on the back of my trailer for when the power fails and moved my tent and screen house higher off the floor in the tool room to keep in dry in the flooding that we expect from all the rain we’ll get. We have water stored for drinking, cooking, and the toilets too. Now that I don’t have a car I worry more about the flooding. I can live with a foot of water around me but much higher and it will get into the bottom of my trailer. I’ll pack up all the things of value for a quick escape. I am always prepared for a hasty move so there’s no worry there. I didn’t mention moving my solar panels to higher ground. Someone stole them Thursday nite/Friday morning. Stupid is as stupid does though. They cut the wires to the converter box and only took the panels. Peter and I will keep a look out and an ear open. Someone will say something about them. Plus, no one has solar panels in Hopkins so they will abandon them somewhere soon enough when they find out they can’t use them. Anyway…we’re as ready as we can be for the storm.
As we sit here Friday night listening to the radio the forecast has changed. They are now predicting gale force winds and rain to start early Saturday morning with 8-12 inches of rain just on Saturday. That leaves Sunday, Monday, and possibly Tuesday to add to the rainfall totals. I’m guessing that Tricia’s story of waist deep water in a previous story may be equaled or exceeded. We’ve already lost between 2-3 feet of beach during the incoming tide and that means the buffer that protects the Kismet property. If that’s the case my home won’t make it. I’ve gotten the important things together as well as enough clothing to last me until I can replace what I think I’ll lose. My trailer has been a wonderful home and will be a big loss for me if the worst case scenario comes true. I’m not sure what I’ll do… It’s 9pm mountain time and it just started raining very hard. The winds are what they normally would be so far. A tropical Storm warning has just been issued by the Belize government for the next 24 hours and they are recommending people in low laying coastal areas and the Cayes to begin moving to higher ground on the mainland. Our evacuation center is at mile marker 25 on the Hummingbird Hwy, just at the foot of the Mayan Mountains. Hmmm??? Any chances of mud slides???
When I woke up Saturday morning, after a night of torrential rain, I had 6” of water around my trailer and ½ of the Kismet property was underwater too. All of the bottom rooms were flooded as well. I walked to the beach side and saw that the waves were breaking over the berm and water was running down toward the back where my trailer and the flooded driveway out were. Not what I needed to see! I only needed less than a foot of water before the bottom of my trailer would start flooding. The weather forecast was still calling for up to 15” of rain between now and Wednesday. So I made the decision to move to higher ground. So after Peter and I moved the mattresses from the 2 lower rooms out to the upper deck of the cabana I went off to see if our friend Tonic was still around. He has a farm tractor and I knew he was moving his belongings to a family member’s house in Dangriga. He was already gone and his wife said he wouldn’t be back with the tractor. I asked Peter if he knew anyone and he suggested a guy who worked at Hopkins Bay Resort next door. He was available and came in short order. I had everything disconnected in short order and things in the trailer secured. What I didn’t notice was that one of the palapa support posts was between the rear of my trailer and the back tow deck on the trailer. So as the guys started pulling the trailer out the palapa started coming with it. I quickly got him stopped but the damage was already done. Peter and I got the tow deck off and the tow began again. He stopped with the rear of my trailer at the front of the palapa to make the turn into the driveway. Down came the palapa and it tore a hole in the rear wall and a jagged strip on the right rear side, both of which I’ve duct taped already. So my palapa is in a heap and will need to be removed before I can come back home. I’m across from the end of the driveway on a little used road but it’s a good 4 feet higher than I was so I’m safe now. This afternoon cleared up and we had sunny skies while I helped Peter add shoring posts to his house in case of high winds. While he was holding one of the 12 foot 6X10” beams up against the bottom of his house (8 feet off the ground) it slipped and bounced off the left side if my head. Boy did I see stars! No blood but a huge goose egg. I said it could have knocked some sense into me but Peter assured me that it didn’t because I wasn’t headed to the airport to move back to the states. (Since them I’ve cut my left foot on a conch shell and sprained and cut my big right toe. I’m the walking wounded this week!) So anyway it seems that the storm is back to being a tropical depression and there is no news on the radio about where it’s headed. But the rain is still in the forecast and that will be a big problem. Since this is the rainy season, and we’ve had plenty, any more than 10 inches of rain will flood most low laying areas of the country and ruin the crops that are ready for harvest. We’ll still keep a weather eye open and I won’t move back onto Kismet until Thursday at the earliest. Thank God the storm died before devastating Belize! We still have some clean up from the heavy rains to do here but nothing like it would have been had we gotten the 15 inches of rain and/or tropical storm/hurricane force winds. It’s Tuesday now and we’ve had some rain but not what they’ve predicted. I’m having my trailer moved back home tomorrow. It will be nice being there again even though I’m only a couple hundred feet away.
I’m in Belmopan today. I just picked up my replacement passport. Headed back to Hopkins in an hour or so.
As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!
