Stormy Night Ahead

via Stormpulse

Well.. looks like we have a Tropical Cyclone on our hands.  But what exactly is a tropical cyclone?  The consensus seems to be that all hurricanes are cyclones, but not all cyclones are hurricanes.  Tropical storms have winds less from 0-39mph, tropical cyclones 40-72 mph, and hurricanes are greater than 72mph.  What causes damage though is generally not the wind so much as the flooding that can occur with these types of storms. 

Here in Dominica, once it starts raining hard enough the water gets shut off.  I've heard that this is to prevent debris from clogging the pipes.  You wouldn't want to drink the water even if it was turned on because it would be brown as mud.  I filled up several gallons of drinking water, and will fill the bathtub once the big rain starts so we can at least flush the toilet every now and then.  We should be fine even if the water stays off for a few days.

The water, power, and internet are sure to go out sometime even if this is storm doesn't turn into a cyclone or hurricane.  Thankfully our apartment complex has a massive generator for power, and I can survive without the internet for a few days {if I have to}.

This storm is more worrisome than any last year for us though because the projected path puts the center directly over Dominica where as in the past they have been several hundred miles north or south.  There's a sort of scared excitement in the air around town.  I waited in line for about 45 minutes at the grocery store, and then another at hour at 7-11 to buy electricity.

All is quiet other than that.  Shall we say, "the calm before the storm?"