ottomango: Stuck in Kingston, Jamaica

I'm waiting. Sitting in my room at the Pegasus hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. Waiting for the onslaught of hurricane Ivan which is expected to approach Jamaica some time during this night, with the hurricane's eye reaching Kingston around lunchtime tomorrow Friday.

First, for those who don't know why I'm out here (or just need reminding), I am working on an implementation of a student records system at the University of Technology (UTech) in Kingston. I arrived here Saturday night and have been working at the university providing training and consultancy since Monday. I was aware this was the hurricane season before I left the UK, but when I was here in the same month last year no mention was made of any hurricanes (none were remotely close to the island) so I didn't really think Jamaica was in any way susceptible. (The last major hurricane was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 which seems like a lifetime ago to me ... though certainly not the inhabitants!) A couple of weeks ago, hurricane Charlie skirted the south of the island and although the island was on hurricane warning it did not cause much damage - and I certainly can't claim to have seen any damage since my arrival. The project team at UTech had taken the necessary precautions to protect the equipment and the fairly new project building - covered computers, applied mask taping to glass windows etc - but this turned out to be unnecessary.

When I arrived on Saturday, I watched the devastation hurricane Frances was causing in Florida on CNN. It just seemed to me to be miles away and of no concern. Little did I know hurricane Ivan had started to bear down on Jamaica from the south east. It has been advancing for a few days now and we've been watching its progress on the Internet and TV.

Yesterday afternoon, the Jamaican government issued a hurricane watch - which meant hurricane conditions were to be expected in the next 36 hours. A hurricane warning was issued this morning. The Department of Education closed all schools for today and Friday - the Universities and colleges followed suit. We had a storm last night and I thought this was just an appetiser of what we could expect over the next few days. However, it was eery this morning - I woke up to a lovely, warm, sunny day. Getting to the University was a breeze. The ten minute journey to the University - which takes just over half an hour during the rush hour - took just over ten minutes for a change! We tried to concentrate on the day's planned training session, but the hurricane was always on our mind. The project team members own property, have families, and are justifiably concerned. News that Grenada was almost flattened (90% of houses affected, including an old stone prison from which all prisoners were released) was disconcerting. Some team members busied themselves taking the necessary precautions to protect the project building. I guess it was a way of taking their minds off it.

We all left the building by two. Back at the hotel, the furniture on the balcony had been moved inside. I'm on the ninth floor and if/when the hurricane hits I am told the building may sway ... I asked at reception what I was expected to do and I was told the hotel staff would issue us with instructions. If it gets particularly bad, guests will congregate downstairs.

So now I wait. I am expecting my friends Ruth and her mum Salome to visit soon. We can discuss the hurricane I suppose! That's what everyone else is doing when I was downstairs earlier, so why won't we?

Anyway, I hope to write another blog sometime tomorrow, probably before the worst of the hurricane hits. I've found this quite therapeutic. It doesn't take my mind off things, but it does help. At some stage we'll lose power I suppose, as the electricity company decides to stop power as a precautionary safety measure. But when I'm back online, you will hear from me ...

Here's some of the pictures I took this morning.

This is the project building from the outside -