[Fists] Report from Josh, 6Y5WJ

[Stan Reas]

I know many folks are concerned about how Josh, 6Y5WJ fared in the Hurricanes.

So here's an Email I received from him.

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Stan Old boy,

Thanks for your concern and to be honest I'm glad I've got a few minutes to
send this email and let you know that all is OK with us here. I know that you
were aware of the past hurricanes Charlie and Ivan. Well Charlie was a strong
one that dumped over 10 inches of rain on us and caused widespread flooding.
Several people lost their lives and helicopters had to rescue people from 
their roof-tops.

Ivan was a devastating hurricane that passed on the south side (where we
are) and literally flattened anything in its way, including antennas of all
kinds, even the commercial ones. It started early on the 10th of September in
Kingston and lingered for 24 hours moving along a path 60 miles south of 
Jamaica
at only about 8 MPH. Wind speeds for the outer wall (50-80 miles) was measured
at 160 MPH with higher gusts.

With my weather station information I played a small part on 14.325 the HWN 
but
battoned down when wind speeds started to exceed 80MPH, just before
homes had their roofs ripped off and flung up to half a mile away. Vegetation,
including large trees were uprooted, and torn to shreds. Power line poles 20
inches in diameter were snapped like matchsticks and livestock were found
pinned to rocks and trees with their skins torn off.

We were extremely lucky, we suffered superficial roof damage but flooded 
out in
three rooms. I bailed at least 150 gallons of water from one of the three 
bedrooms
as water cascaded down the walls. Our outside walls were stripped of paint and
anything that was not nailed down was flown away. The aftermath saw all
roads blocked either with debris or fallen trees and the PM called a state
of emergency. People are only just coming out of designated shelters to find
their homes gone.

It will take a very long time to recover from this one and people are 
already bracing
themselves until the end of the hurricane season, which should end some 
time in
November/December. Bear in mind hurricane Jeane and Karl are both out there
developing towards Puerto Rico and there are predictions for at least 
another 9 more
heading into the Caribbean basin.

I thought our house would not survive Ivan being perched on the south side
of the Santa Cruz mountain range and very much open to high winds and
adverse weather conditions However, there's a hill directly behind and to
the east side of us that gave some shelter. Our only structural damage was
to one end of the "Decra Tile" roofing that we have, where one end started
to lift and let in water. Had the storm continued another hour or two, the
roof would certainly have gone west.

Anyway, we are safe, dry and not hungry, although food is fast becoming
short, because the electricity was turned off island wide, due to the danger
of the fallen lines.

We do have our electric generator but we are hopeful that in a few days, the
mains electricity will be switched back on. The same goes for the land line
phones and although cellular phones were a great help during the storm, they
're only now getting back to normal.

This is an experience I don't ever want again, not for me personally so
much, but for those that emerged from the shelters to find nothing left of
their homes and livelihood.

Well that's the report for now Old Boy, I'll wait for your reply and in the
meantime get back out there helping those less fortunate.

Take it easy

Josh 6Y5WJ

PS: I'm back on air with the generator, but only with a G5RV and then only
for short periods.
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