Caribbean

As anyone in the Northwestern Hemisphere knows it is hurricane season and this season has been a particularly rough one for the Caribbean. Hurricane Fay followed by Gustav, Hanna and now Ike have caused widespread devistation to the Caribbean. Ike passed right over Grand Turk and Salt Cay just days after the islands were already battered by Hurricane Hanna for five days.
The Turks and Caicos have not seen storms like this in 48 years. On Grand Turk it is estimated that between 80-95% of homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed, including the hospital which was terribly damaged. There is widespread flooding, roads are blocked, and they are not expecting to fully restore electricity until December. In total, nearly 1,000 people have been made homeless. There was only one place on Grand Turk that had food, Mr Cee's which it is now under a foot of water and the roof collapsed during the storm. Most of the public and private water supplies have been contaminated with debris.

We have heard that the Government reportedly decided to evacuate the island, especially with another threat from Tropical Storm Josephine on the way. With no food or water, it seems that the only hope for Grand Turk is in the form of aid from the British Red Cross and the British Navy. The Red Cross is running emergency shelters and providing people with food, clothing and tarpaulins but supplies are running low and they are appealing for urgent funds
Donations to the British Red Cross hurricane appeal can be made here: http://www.redcross.org.uk/TLC.asp?id=85440.

By far the greatest concern is Haiti, where a humanitarian crisis deepened after four storms in three weeks left more than 566 people dead and hundreds of thousands in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter. About 650,000 Haitians have been affected by the flooding, including 300,000 children, and the task of delivering crucial aid has been complicated by dismal transport conditions. Officials said 200,000 people had been without food and clean water, many for four days

Your donations will help not ony the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands, but also those affected in Haiti, the Bahamas, and throughout the Caribbean. Every little helps.

Since Vale and I left the Turks and Caicos last April much sadness has descended upon the islands, particularly the ones we came to call home - Grand Turk and Salt Cay. These difficult months began in late April when Grand Turk and Salt Cay lost a beloved son, Tyro Talbot.
Ty was featured on our February 1st blog, "How does a field project continue?". In that early blog we had only just meet Ty, the captain of the whale watching boat owned by Oasis Divers on Grand Turk, "Prince of Whales". Even then after going whale watching with Ty a couple of times, I was impressed with his understand of the whales and their ocean home. It makes perfect sense that Ty understood the sea as it was his home too. Ty grew up on Salt Cay and Grand Turk. spending as much time on and in the water as on land.

What doesn't always make perfect sense are whales and even more so, people, but Ty had a way with whales and people. Not once was I ever concerned for the whales while out with Ty; he had patience that only comes from the confidence of knowing one's craft. I was often entertained and heartened to watch Ty's response to friends and customers aboard the whale watch who begged to "get just a little closer" or to "stay just a little longer". The pressure to ensure that people "get their money's worth", and every other rational one could come up with, is intense and not everyone stands up to it with the grace of Tyro.

So it was aboard the "Prince of Whales" that Tyro Talbot earned our respect, while on land he became a great friend and confidant. Ty was often the life of the party and was filled with so much life. He played in the band "High Tide", which played at least twice a week and made everyone on the island turn out to dance and celebrate.

On April 19th, the sea took back one of it's own. Ty had a terrible free-diving accident, while doing something that he had done hundreds of thousands of times. Vale and i returned to Grand Turk and Salt Cay to pay our respects to Ty and his memory and to be with other friends and loved ones who were struggling with the tragic and untimely loss of someone who meant so much to so many.