Stranded--part 2

Day 2 Flash floods and no power

Power ceased early this morning as a torrential downpour and thunderstorm boomed outside. We readied by hurricane lamp unaware of the storm damage.

Our driveway out of the neighborhood where we live was flooded this a.m. and we were not able to exit to the main road. A deluge of rainwater covered the roadway, eroding the shoulder and spilling over into a usually tranquil pond. Any car attempting to cross the road risked floating away into the now swirling pond. (photo 1--driveway the day before when still passable)

A bottleneck developed as residents attempting to go to work debated the flooded crossing. A gentleman in a gleaming Excursion generously offered that if my husband and I would go first in our Jeep Wrangler that if stuck, he would pull us out. Rather than end up as fodder for dummy of the day on the evening news, we decided instead to back track.

Eventually we made it out of the complex on a service road used by maintenance men and the garbage truck. The little paved drive was completely covered by water and had become the bedrock for a rushing stream, but not too deep to be passable.

En route to work my husband mused that we were probably just overwhelmed because we are new residents. Blasé locals would snicker at us. Then we noticed a local man video taping the storm damage. This was not, we learned, typical.

I have no Internet service at home (not available) so I take advantage of a hot spot at a café just up the hill. The night manager there said she’s lived her entire life on St. Croix, She’s lived through hurricanes and never experience such flooding. Roadways becoming rivers with tree limbs, coconuts, chunks of asphalt—all swept away.

It’s not a tropical storm; it’s a low pressure system that has settled. In short, a rain cloud is squatting over the island and shows no sign of departing. (photo 2--brief lull in storm)