Tropical Storm who?
This was not a question being asked yesterday, but a statement that reflected the response of many Barbadians, who completed their preparations for the arrival of Tropical Storm Emily went about their business as usual.
With very little rain to dampen their spirit, but frequent gusts of wind to remind them it was not a normal day, Barbadians played cricket in the road at Carrington Village, sold and bought ackees at the corner of Risk Road in Fitts Village, St James, played competitive football at Trents, in the same parish, roasted breadfruits in Coach Hill, St John, and played bat and ball on the beach in Christ Church.
On Mullins Beach, St Peter, tourists got into the act, soaking up the sun's rays on the sand or frolicking in the sea.
This contrasted with the boat owners along the North and West Coast who kept an uneasy watch on their vessels as Emily threatened, and then sputtered.
At Weston, St James, and Six Men's, St Peter, more than a dozen boats remained in the water as their owners complained of being turned away from sheltering the boats at Port St Charles as directed by Chief Fisheries Officer Steven Willoughby in a Press release.
Owners Wilton Broome, Stephen Moore and Alvin Griffith kept vigil by the seaside at Weston, fearing that any rough seas would end their investment. In the adjacent parish of St Peter, fishermen there had a similar complaint as their boats remained dangerously out to sea with the island under a storm warning.
All this time unconcerned youth took advantage of the brisk winds to do some out-of-season kite-flying, and even fishing.
At St James Secondary School, a hurricane shelter, Principal Yvette Browne said that no one had turned up to register as things remained quiet. The Garden Seventh Day Adventist Church, another shelter, remained closed and the streets empty.
The most harm came from winds which brought a rotted breadfruit tree crashing down, blocking the road at The Whim, St Peter. However, the District Emergency Organisation under the command of chairman Dave Hurley and the road clearance team, had the tree cut up and moved within ten minutes of arriving at the scene.
It was those same winds that helped British resident Lorenzo "DJ Lappy Dingback" Jackman fly the kite he has had for the last two years. The Bajan, on vacation from England and who experienced Hurricane Janet in 1955, predicted that the storm would pass but the winds would make for great kite-flying.
Further up, Sue Louken was hoping to catch a red snapper at Paynes Bay, St James, explaining that the churning of the sea had cleared away a rocky area making it ideal for fishing.
Others passed their time in traditional style, gathering in rum shops running the length of the West Coast.
