Hurricanes were fun when I was a child. No school. No chores. My family crowded into our small Florida home where pandemonium challenged the chaos of the storm. Damage was always minor. I was never scared.
When I learned that my island home was in the path of Hurricane Irma in 2017, even as an octogenarian, I still felt fearless.
I checked off my to-do list that provided hurricane protection and preservation for more than sixty years. Smugly, I congratulated myself on my fast and flawless preparations.
On September 6, 2017, Virgin Gorda, in the British Virgin Islands, took a direct hit from Category 5 Hurricane Irma. Sustained winds of over 200 miles per hour spawned countless tornadoes. Everyone in Virgin Gorda soon realized that this storm was no ordinary hurricane. Irma was historic!
The house began to shudder. Wind swept torrential sheets of rain over and under the aluminum shutters. My mop wasn’t fast enough. Water flooded the upstairs and rushed to the floor below. Flying debris knocked holes in the tiled roof. Rain poured down from the ceiling with resounding thuds. Overhead lights and fans bounced wildly. Window frames threatened to crash through the walls. What sounded like a locomotive was coming closer! I watched helplessly as the copper-clad front doors blew out and the cyclone roared into the house!
This scene, and worse, terrorized every islander on Virgin Gorda. By the time Irma thundered toward St. Thomas and Puerto Rico, she had ravaged every island in her path. The first sight of my home and island brought shock, tears and despair. All that remained was twisted steel, mangled cars, remnants of houses, masses of clothes and household debris. Docks and boats and containers that had flown high in the air lay stacked across the island. The landscape was stripped bare of its lush West Indian hardwood hammocks. All power and communication were gone. We had no water or fuel. No safe shelter. Almost every islander lost everything they possessed.
A fly-over newscaster reported “Everyone on Virgin Gorda is dead!”
Despite the violent winds, lashing rain, pounding seas and massive destruction, no one died!
Survivors exchanged tales of horror, running as roofs collapsed or blew away, climbing through broken glass windows and shattered beams, jumping into cisterns to save their children and seeking refuge with refuge-seeking neighbors as the eye passed over the island. Although they faced terror, prayer and faith filled their hearts.
Months after Irma, adults still spoke nervously as they recalled that painful day. Most of our children remained silent, reluctant to share their feelings and fright. As the first anniversary of Hurricane Irma approached, they were less hesitant. Their recorded words came rapidly, running from one sequence of events to another without taking a breath as they relived their nightmares. The sad songs of their hearts are unchanged and unedited. Their sweet souls were tested and none failed. Their courage and the depth of their faith in God is humbling.
I hope that Courage Faith Love will help heal and comfort them and all the children who have faced the challenges of living through such terrible storms.
I thank all the wonderful children of Virgin Gorda who were brave enough to share their experiences and all the kind mothers and fathers who allowed me to collect and publish their stories.
Rebuilding Virgin Gorda continues more slowly than we hoped, but our children, like their parents, are steadfast in their determination to make Virgin Gorda a paradise once again.
Jacky Silvers
2020
Virgin Gorda
British Virgin Islands