Bad Weather

My heart pounded when I heard Hurricane Ike was approaching us. I knew we would not experience it badly, since we lived inland, but my greatest fear was how my autistic child, now age six, would experience this terrible ordeal. I knew she loves the idea of watching the raindrops falling on the window pane or simply wants to play in the rain, like most kids her age. To us, hurricanes are a serious matter, but to a child, there is enjoyment in watching and hearing the heavy rain pouring down; some fears are the starting of loud thunder and seeing striking lighting in the sky and against their windows, or not wanting to experience tornados. This was Siobhan‘s first experience of a hurricane. She was somewhat aware of something happening, for she knew she could not go to school and was aware her father was at home, not going on one of his ―mission/business trip as she called it. She saw the confusion in people‘s faces and heard it in their voices as she went to the supermarket with her father, getting impatient at the long line at the cashier register. I knew she would have a tantrum, but my husband insisted on taking her, because she loves going shopping and this makes her happy.

On most shopping days she does well, helping out with the shopping and holding onto her purse. She comes home quite happy to see me and goes to her computer. On this day, it was getting ready to rain with the clouds getting darker. When the heavy breeze started to blow, she kept glancing through the window, watching the trees swaying to & fro. At this moment, her two older sisters ran outside to feel the breeze. Siobhan followed, and grew excited running around in the breeze enjoying every moment of it with the breeze blowing against her tiny body. She sat with me for a while in the hammock hugging and giggling, flapping her fingers. To see the excitement on her face was a moment to treasure; but for how long, I wondered!

The night before the hurricane approached, we put her in our bed for her safety, but she woke up at the very click of the lights, which went off, and heard the howling of the wind, with tree branches flying against the house. It sounded like the house was collapsing, like the windows would break. I tried to remain calm, for she was showing some signs that she knew something was wrong, murmuring ―”Oh, Oh/ Oh No”. She got up and walked to her room in the dark, to cover under her sheets where she thinks it is much safer. I could see how frightened she was, uncertain of the powerful breeze and the noises outside her window. I stayed with her throughout the night. My fear was building up, wondering how she would react the following day, without power and without going outside. I knew the dark would not bother her, for she is not afraid of the dark. To my dismay, her only problem was ―why was the computer not working which she kept asking over and over, and ―why was the lights not on. She was so tense, unsure of what was going on, kept saying, “it‘s raining again!” ― “Why is it raining so long?”

―”Look at the messy yard!”. She was so locked up inside the house, wanted to go out, and couldn‘t do her usual stuff around the house, which causes anxiety leading to some tantrums. This gets all of us frustrated, but we gradually cope with the situation, making it fun for her. We kept her busy with a new board game and had her helping around the house, which she enjoyed flickering on & off the flashlights. Everyone had their chores of helping out and managing on their own. We all grew closer as a family, relaxing and simply enjoying each other‘s company and feeling at ease for Siobhan‘s sake, even if it meant tolerating the heat that comes with having a power cut. My other two girls missed having their cell phones, talking to their friends, watching TV and listening to music. They grew to appreciate what they had and had taken for granted, as my eldest daughter said, ― “how about the people in Africa how do they survive without electricity?”

Luckily for us, we were prepared for the hurricane, with enough food, water, and having a small outdoor stove, along with other necessities; except later on we had to hunt for ice and gas, which was a huge problem. Being able to open the garage door to be able to use our ―gas emergency stove, made Siobhan‘s day easier, being able to have open air from the heat we were suffering.

Siobhan‘s behavior had turned for the better, experiencing the hurricane in a ―fun adventure way, sneaking outdoors to see us cooking on the ―little stove in the ―garage kitchen as she puts it. She eagerly waited her turn in helping cook her oatmeal and eggs and her rice & beans which is her main meal every day, being a picky eater. She grabbed the opportunity of running outside with her raincoat not fully around her body when the rain had slowed down after the hurricane to enjoy playing in the rain, but most of the time she wanted us to stay in the garage watching the rain while we played some games with her. The garage was our new place to chill/camp out with the family, watching other families going through the same ordeal, just to pass our time to reflect on our wonderful moments spent together as a family. I told stories of my childhood experiences, the small hurricanes I had experienced, remembering hearing heavy rain on the roof and seeing small puddles of water in our house, how afraid I was of the loud thunder and striking lighting, how scared I was of going outside, being the youngest, and how I cling unto my mom.

I can recall other hurricane stories being told to me by my mom, mainly one in 1961 – hurricane ―Hattie ―, which shook up a big part of the country where I grew up in the Caribbean, living by the sea, which was 15‘ below sea level. How high surge covered some low houses, people trying to crawl unto a tree from the roof of their houses and water rising high to cover our top stairs, which was in a high house we lived in at the time. Our zinc roof had parts flying off and some areas of our wooden house started leaking. There were not many reliable shelters to go to, not enough space for the people to shelter. There were shortages of food & water, and prices of food were going up. Stores were burglarized; curfew was set with armed guards. Some homeless kids were still on the streets during the hurricane. Life became harder after the hurricanes, with weeks of power shortages, trying to survive on the little you had. One sad moment for our family was the loss of my grandfather whom I never knew (my children‘s great-grandfather); he lost his life during a 1931 hurricane when he was trying to rescue some people from the shelters. Thank God for those who survived and for the good people who did good deeds, but got taken away in the hurricane. Their great- grandfather was a ―hero! My thoughts went out to Siobhan‘s wondering if she really grasped what was going on; or if to her, this was just a moment of happiness spent with her family in a different way. Luckily, for us, we did not go through the worst part of the hurricane, for no matter how prepared you are, you can not know what the outcome will be like, having children to cope with, especially when one being ―autistic is a challenge by itself. Siobhan‘s situation could have been worse, but she handled it fairly well.

The aftermath of the hurricane had led us to evacuate since the power cut was doomed to be out for several weeks, which can lead to an unpleasant situation at home. In the end, we all had a vacation spent at a ―water park resort away from home for one week until the power came back on. This hurricane experience, as Siobhan saw it and had experienced it for the first time, turned out to be a ―fun adventure for all of us. Unfortunately, it was more a ―sad disaster for most people elsewhere who suffered tremendously. We had to face going home to a messy environment, with much cleaning up to do, and wait for weeks to get things back in shape, with some areas still having power shortages and garbage/trees collection unattended. The hurricane had brought the community together with each lending a helping hand.

Jocelyn and Siobhan