Kristen Gyles | Braving the storm of Beryl’s bad behaviour

On Wednesday afternoon at about 1:00, I stood in my kitchen looking through the window at the pitter-patter of the relatively mild rainfall and I made the sorry mistake of remarking to a family member that the hurricane was “not that bad”. Oops. Hurricane Beryl didn’t like that. Within an hour and a half after, the winds became so heavy one couldn’t be sure how many of the trees in sight would make it through the ordeal. Rainfall became very heavy, and electricity got cut off shortly after.

Hurricane Beryl left thousands homeless across the Caribbean and has claimed the lives of at least seven persons at the time of writing. In southeastern Caribbean islands like Barbados, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, which have felt the brunt of Beryl’s fury, numerous roads are still impassable and many citizens are without water and electricity. Countless buildings, cars, boats and other valuable possessions have been destroyed and citizens don’t know where to start in picking up the pieces after a hurricane that has left behind it a trail of wreckage.

It seems I wasn’t the only one who had seriously underestimated the impact likely to have been brought on by the hurricane. Although we had been warned of the impending hurricane for days leading up to its arrival, many of us joked that it would make a ‘U’ turn or go around the island as hurricanes have often done. One woman on social media made it clear that she wouldn’t be wasting her money buying anything for the hurricane because she had not yet seen or heard renowned Jamaican meteorologist Evan Thompson commenting on the hurricane. As far as she was concerned, if Uncle Evan hasn’t mentioned a hurricane, there is no hurricane.

WAITED UNTIL 11TH HOUR

Others of us also seemed to have waited until the 11th hour to start making preparations. The long lines of traffic on Tuesday evening indicate that many were watching and waiting and perhaps trying to avoid the expenditure of hurricane supplies unless absolutely necessary. The announced 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. curfew also didn’t seem to do much in convincing some Jamaicans of the seriousness of the hurricane either. Not long before the hurricane conditions started on Wednesday, a video was posted on social media of a young woman outside her home, asking Beryl where she was and telling Beryl that she was in fact NOT a ‘bad gyal’ as people were suggesting.

Another social media user created a video of himself sailing through the sky like a superhero and captioned it as footage of him flying behind his zinc roof “when the hurricane gone wid it”. LOL. Jamaicans are so unserious sometimes. Even in the midst of a life-threatening hurricane, we can still find things to laugh about.

There’s a place for being able to make light of a serious situation. Despite the façade many of us display of always being unbothered and unaffected by tough situations, humour is one healthy way of coping. Hurricanes are very traumatic experiences for many Jamaicans, especially those who have experienced significant material losses during hurricanes like Gilbert and Ivan. In difficult, anxious and uncertain times, we have to do what we must to keep sane and to keep hopeful.

SIMILAR TO COVID-19

In some way, the Hurricane Beryl experience is strikingly similar to the COVID-19 pandemic experience. We are all barricaded away in our homes, seeking shelter from the dangerous outdoors and we are really not sure how long it will be before the danger goes away completely. Unfortunately, Hurricane Beryl has viciously taken away electricity for many so, unlike during the COVID-19 pandemic experience, we don’t even have the guarantee of internet usage and other tools that could help us keep in touch with and support each other. We also don’t have the continued use of our phones and other electronic devices to entertain and distract us from the reality we are experiencing. That can be good and bad.

It is in times like these that many suffer the negative psychological effects of isolation. Out of the pandemic came several testimonials of people who struggled with mental health issues like depression and anxiety amid the isolation and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic.

Although we all have our own issues to take care of, we can choose to be intentional about checking up on our loved ones and being our brother’s keeper. It is especially important to remember those who do not have a strong support system generally and those who are physically alone at this time. Many who are by themselves may be in need of a healthy outlet to discuss their concerns and anxieties about the hurricane and how it might impact them. The time we inevitably end up spending indoors during a hurricane also presents a good opportunity for us to reach out to loved ones we haven’t spoken to in a long time, even if we know they are safe. And, of course, in the aftermath of Beryl’s bad behaviour, some may also need our physical support.

We hear a lot about how selfishness and self-centredness is becoming more and more commonplace in Jamaica and we have certainly been seeing the crime surge in recent years to support this view. However, sometimes it takes the emergence of a common enemy like Hurricane Beryl to bring us together and to remind us of the good in Jamaica, of which there is plenty. Let’s continue to look out for each other and help each other through what has been a life-threatening experience for some.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com.