Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 28

Nisha recounts her Hurricane Irma Experience

I had dedicated myself to an all-night coverage of
Hurricane Irma on radio, with my supervisor and
several other staff members. Being 19, I had never
experienced a category 5 hurricane on neither
Anguilla, nor Dominica, where I was born.
Radio Anguilla was the sole local station operating
to provide Hurricane coverage, thus we became, I
guess by default, one of the emergency contacts.
People were tuned in to their radios to stay informed
on the latest updates.
At about 1:00 a.m I recall a panicked woman cal ling
with regard to a sparking pole in her vicinity. No first
responders were able to get to her - with a category
5 hurricane in full force, the stakes were too high. As
the morning progressed so did the winds, and the
emergency calls became even more intense.
By 3:00 am, the pressure in the studios started to
become almost unbearable. I had to keep unlocking
my jaw by opening my mouth as wide as possible,
just to get some relief. My ears were not the only
things feeling the pressure - leaves and stones were
being forced through the shutters that were rattling
under the pressure of the winds.
The 185mph winds were being felt even more
intensely by 5:00 am. The shutters right in front
of the mic and radio equipment got ripped from
the window, and blew away into the parking lot,
becoming a projectile. The men in the studios
quickly swept into action using a large but flimsy
see-through object to minimize the pressure of
the windows, to prevent them from bursting. This
meant however, that they had to stand in front of the
window possibly sacrificing themselves while acting
as a shield.
After protecting the radio equipment with garbage
bags we kept on broadcasting. I remember vividly
trying my utmost to stay calm, and reassuring the
terrified listeners that we were present with them
and they should call us in case of emergencies;
when they did, we would do our best to guide them.
Truthfully, I was growing terrified as well, a long
bang outside caused me to yelp on air - I thought a
projectile had flung into the window.
A local man called in utter panic. His windows were
being blown away and he had a baby in the room.
Upon relaying his call to the National Emergency
Operations Centre, it soon became very clear to us
that first responders would not be able to respond to
anyone, under any circumstances! The best advice
that we could give via the airwaves, were to secure
themselves safely in their bathroom - truthfully, this
was one of the reasons many people were able to
survive Irma - being in their bathroom or tucked
away under a bed, or in a closet.
Cars were being swept across the parking lot, my co-
worker watched even as his car got banged against
another. Sometime after 6:00 am, I received a voice
note from my mother, who was on duty as a nurse
at the hospital. With a trembling voice she informed
me that the roof of the hospital was being blown
away and they were having a lot of flooding. Shortly
after, the radio crashed… and there was radio silence
throughout the island.
Thankfully, I still had WIFI, a selfie stick, and an
iPhone which I used to continue on with the
broadcast. I went live on Twitter/Periscope which
informed thousands of people across the world
about the current situation on Anguilla.