Haiti, Hurricane Matthew

This is me with children at a Haiti orphanage back in 2007. These little ones lost their parents during a storm. Now Haiti is faced with yet another disaster - Hurricane Matthew.

I don't travel to Haiti anymore, now that I work part-time. Yet in all my 21 years of travel, Haiti was always close to my heart.

Weather forecasters say Matthew's 135 mph winds and torrential rains may cause "catastrophic" damage to the island nation. I've been all over Haiti, from Cap Haitian in the north, to Les Cayes in the South. They say Les Cayes will get badly hit by this hurricane.

I was in Haiti shortly after the 2010 earthquake. The destruction was staggering. Some of those buildings that survived the earthquake are still fragile.

Haitians are still recovering and many families still sleep in tents. I can't imagine being in a tent during a bad rainstorm, let alone a hurricane. Some are refusing to leave. It sounds insane, but you have to understand the poverty and desperation. They fear losing all they own, and they can't comprehend how bad this storm can be. I pray it won't be that bad, but from the look of it, Hurricane Matthew will deal a devastating blow to the country.

One of the many mountainous areas in Haiti I traveled to.

The biggest fear I have is not the wind in that country, but the rain. Torrential rains. Up to 40 inches of rain locally, they are predicting. Haiti has few trees and many denuded areas, as you can see in the photo to the left. This means flash floods and mudslides, as there is nothing to hold back the ground.

One of my last trips to Haiti was to Les Cayes, the city in the south end. The ocean there is lovely, and there are little shops where you can order fresh fish. I keep wondering what will happen to all of those vendors and those living in that area after this storm.

Haiti just can't seem to catch a break. All I can do is wait...and watch..and hope and pray.

WTH?

This is Tropical Storm Hanna, the biggest threat to my area. Not Gustav, which is going to slam into the Gulf Coast (sigh) sometime next week. I'm on the east coast, and Hanna is a threat more.

But look at the models. They're all wacky. Spinning around. This is how I feel during the height of hurricane season, like, uh, now.

I'm leaving the country Monday on a last minute work trip I did not anticipate. I hate hate leaving when something like this is lingering off my coast, as I have responsibilities and an elderly in-law, but have no choice.

In the meantime, this is what I'd rather be thinking of:

This is Raphael, the Cajun Draicon werewolf I'm writing about, whose story is due in four weeks. He rides a Harley, wears black leather, and, as I described him in Enemy Lover, my November Nocturne, resembles "An angel stumbling out of a Bourbon Street sex shop."

I'd rather be writing about bad boy biker werewolves than worrying about hurricanes.

Bad boy biker werewolves don't hurt innocents in my story, they just make very long, slow love, or very fast and hard, depending upon the heroine's preferences.

I hope Gustav stays the hell away from Louisiana and New Orleans. I think they've had enough. Go away Gustav!

Hurricane Dean

I'm really worried about the islands where we work. Dean is now a cat. 2, may be a cat 4 when it brushes the DR and Haiti and Jamaica may take a direct hit. We're sending a team down to Jamaica tomorrow to be on the island Sunday when it hits. We'll be standing by to send emergency relief supplies like food, water, etc.

Hopefully the island won't get a direct hit, but it doesn't look so good right now.

I have this horrible feeling it will be bad. Very bad. Any time a hurricane even brushes Haiti, there are floods and mudslides. People die. A lot of people may die from this one, in Haiti and Jamaica. I hope I'm wrong. It's very weird because I'm so damned relieved we're not getting it here here in S. Florida and yet I'm watching the news with this same terrible sinking feeling I had when Katrina passed us and slammed into New Orleans. Like watching a slow moving disaster in the works.

For now, all I can do is sit, watch, wait. And pray. I hope it won't be bad.





But I have that sinking feeling it will be. Very very bad.

Florida needs a giant condom

Tropical Storm Dean is now official. In five days, it's predicted to turn into a cat. 3 hurricane and the latest projections, though there is plenty of room for error, say Florida may be a target.

Oh joy.

Here we go, again. I have two weeks to finish this Dorchester historical and they say we might get a hurricane? A big weally weally BIG one?

I'm sick and tired of hurricanes. After Wilma in 2005 dumped a tree on our house and caused lots of damage, I decided I've had enough. We have the brightest and best minds in science in this country, so why can't we invent something that keeps them away from my state?

Face it, Florida sticks out into the Atlantic and the Gulf like a giant, well, penis. South Florida, where I live, is the tip and Tallahassee is the balls. Considering what politicians do in Tallahassee, they do have plenty of ... balls.

It's like the whole damn state is dangling out there like manly parts, taunting hurricanes from August to October, the busy season, saying, "HERE I AM, WITH MY BIG GIANT MAN FLESH, COME AND GET ME!"

But hurricanes transmit the deadly STD. Storm Transmitted Disaster.

Now, using the analogy of sex, if Florida is a giant dick, then what do you need to protect a giant dick from an STD?

Why a giant condom, of course.

I suggest scientists invent a giant condom to wrap around the state of Florida for hurricane season. Magnum sized.

Maybe then I can chill during hurricane season.