After the Storm.

The first for the season of tropical storms hit here in Belize on Saturday night. Alex whipped through here on a slightly smaller gust than anticipated, but still for me it was pretty cool. I’m sure after living here longer the cool factor of potentially damaging storms will seem less appealing, but since I’m originally from Calgary, AB Canada this was a first, and I was a bit excited. I stocked my place with fresh water, sodas, food, candles and of course rum. I did have enough food to prepare some dishes, and bought some olives and cheese to sustain me if needed, but rum and candles were at the top of the list.

I pretty much stayed in for most of the day, took the time to photograph the day as the storm approached, but wanted to stay close to home just in case I got caught in it. The storms arrival was estimated for 2:00pm, by 5:00pm we were finally seeing Alex unfold. While I was on facebook, my fellow Islanders were commenting on the “weakness of the storm”, one friends post was “this storm sucks”, which I thought was pretty funny, and had to agree, as the hype was pretty huge. I made my first rum and coke of the day, sat on the back of my golf cart which was parked in my carport, and watched the sea’s surge, and the tide fill the beach, it was pretty awesome. With palm trees bending from the 35 mph winds I watched boat owners hustle to get their boats out of the water, kids running down the beach with excitement, and dogs looking for a safe place to hang out.

Although Alex was mild, this was the first, and I am sure wont be the last to hit Belize. I hope that we don’t experience anything like San Pedro has experienced in the past, Keith, or Dean for example, but a little excitement brought on by mother nature is always something to behold.