I remember in my first year on the island we had a few days straight of torrential rain. It was so loud you could hardly hear yourself think, and the streets were constant puddles. You know that feeling of when it rains so much that it just makes you feel miserable? I asked my boss ‘Steve, how much more does it have to rain before you send us home?’. The answer was laughter. I was very serious though! I’d heard all about hurricane season, and I didn’t fancy getting caught in the eye of the storm!

Admittedly, I was severely under-educated about the issue. I’d heard all about hurricane’s, and had been told that 2010 was going to be a busy hurricane season! We were stocked up with hurricane supplies at home – LOTS of canned food that made my stomach churn just by looking at it, bottles of water, torches, batteries, snack foods that wouldn’t go stale in a hurry, bug spray, first aid kits, battery operated radio, cash, books and other fun things to do, water purification tablets, important documents in waterproof containers… the list goes on. I was actually a little bit excited. I wasn’t wishing for a Cat 5 or anything, but a little baby hurricane would have been a great adventure!

We had a week straight of pouring rain, flooded streets and not a drop of sunshine (which also happened to be the week that I had time off to spend with a visitor who was over from Australia). I waited ever so patiently for something that never came…

Today is the first day of the 2012 hurricane season and we’ve been told that all the signs are pointing to a busy hurricane season this year as well… Something about crabs in Cayman Brac (http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2012/05/16/-Hurricane–crabs-invade-Brac/) was reported, which apparently is a sign that we’re due to have a hurricane or two coming our way. Other sources are saying that it is supposed to be a quiet hurricane season – so really, no one seems to know what they’re talking about!

Whether it is a busy or quiet hurricane season, the time has come (it actually came a month or so ago, but I was lazy and put it off) to prepare for some mild/not so mild weather. Stock up on the essentials, and come up with family plan!

Listen to the warnings, make sure you have a stockpile of non-perishable food and water (and ALCOHOL for your hurricane party!), and educate yourselves on what to do in the event of a hurricane!