Hurricane Irma

"Holy shit. It's a category 5."

These are the words that went through my head when I woke up and checked the latest NHC forecast on September 5th, last Tuesday morning.

We started watching Irma back when she was known as Invest 93L. As she gained strength and moved closer, we agreed to evacuate to Texas if we were facing a direct hit from a category 4 or 5 storm. Neither of us wanted to leave the island; evacuation would be a last resort. We stocked up on bottled water and non-perishable food on Thursday before the long weekend, just in case. At that time the local news was telling PR that Irma was not a threat and she would curve off to the north, so grocery stores were fully stocked with all the essentials. However, the NHC was telling a different story. Spaghetti models and storm track cones took over our lives. We would make our decision Sunday, the day before Labor Day. At that time, NHC forecast models had Irma passing just far enough to the north to avoid a direct hit to PR and remaining a category 3 hurricane. So we stayed.

Jason and I shared our Irma experience on Facebook as it unfolded. Our posts tell our story.

Steph on August 30th, one week before Irma arrived in Puerto Rico:

"We're watching you, Irma." #hurricanemaybe #wehaveaplan#getthehellouttahere ⛈💨

Jason on September 2nd:

So, just like all the locals have very nonchalantly said to me "Puerto Rico is tiny, its really hard to hit us, it will turn so don't worry"...... It looks like a ton of different tracking models show Irma turning north before getting to us, plus we are on the west side of the island. So our plan is to hang tight in our concrete bunker of a condo on the 4th floor and wait out any rain/winds that may come.

"While the hurricane is strong, it is relatively small in size at this time," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. "Should this small size continue, severe effects from the storm may be limited to a radius 50 miles (80 km) of the center, while the storm moves through the tropics."

We have our food and water stored up for next week along with backup batteries for lights and iDevices.

PS - I may live stream from the balcony if Steph lets me.

September 3rd, decision day. Even though models show Irma potentially heading south much closer to PR, she's still far enough north and small enough that we've decided to stay. Steph on Facebook:

Irma is sneaking further south. Ollie Williams has the forecast.

The next day we are preparing for what could be weeks without power, and suddenly locals realize that a hurricane is coming. September 4th:

(Steph) Me: Let's run to the store for a few last minute things. *sees picture of grocery store* Yeah, no, we're good.

#Irma

(Steph) We have a secret weapon for shopping here - Walgreens. Only 5 people ahead of us in line, and we got everything on our grocery list. This opportunity to eat junk and crap for a week brought to us by #Irma.

(Jason) Bought this as a backup in case the generators go out and I fancy Steph making me a hot dinner. #hurricaneirma

😂🇵🇷💨🌊🌨

The day before Irma arrives, September 5th:

(Jason) Ok so the hurricane is now a Cat5, BUT please remember the eye, where the heaviest winds will be is passing to the north and east of us by probably 70 miles. So our winds should be much less. This preemptive message is primarily for my mom cause I know she worries. ❤️ Try not to worry.

(Steph) The bottled water section today at the grocery store. Amazingly we grabbed some more food and the lines weren't awful. Also lots of employees restocking shelves (except for water).

(Steph) Because Irma isn't enough excitement, now we have a new hurricane on the way. Whatevs, we can stand on the balcony on Saturday and yell, "No way, Jose!"

(Jason) I swear, that damn Irma is SO annoying! Interrupting our lives, getting us all upset, keeping me from watching our tv shows! If I ever see her, I'm going to just tell her to go take a f........ oh crap, she's right behind me, isn't she?

Irma arrives, September 6th:

(Jason) Nothing new to report so far. Looks like wind and rain should pick up this afternoon. Looks like it is continuing to shift slightly north and further away from us. Forecasts show we should only get about 50-60 mph winds here.

(Steph) Security just added us to the list of people and pets sheltering here. He said guards will be here 24/7 as usual through the storm. The guard shack is boarded up but I'd be nervous as hell to be down there tonight!

(Steph) Did I mention we recently added a cozy airbnb space? JK this is where we are sleeping tonight. Jason removed the shoe rack and we rammed the futon mattress in there. Ain't no flying debris getting to us!

(Steph) First rain band is here and we immediately lost power. We are brownout so far, not complete blackout. That means fans and lights work, but no appliances. It won't be long until it all goes out. Generator is not running.

Edit: generator just kicked on!

Edit: Brownout came back strong enough to shut off the generator. It might kick on later, or maybe not.

(Steph) First Irma camping out meal: grilled chicken burritos with caramelized onion and homemade garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert, Ben&Jerrys. As long as the generator kicks on enough, we can keep eating out of the fridge. Also OCD planning pays off.

(Steph) Power is officially totally out. Generator is on, but we know that's not dependable. Cable and wifi and cell service are still good. I expect all of that to go around 8pm tonight when the big winds get here.

(Jason) Steph and I took a big chunk of chocolate cake down to the security guard shack and ended up chatting with him and the HOA president. Confirmed our generator was recently serviced and that it will run for 4 days before needing to be refueled, which they have a contract with a fueling service. They also said there is a big water tank on premise that would last for several days, if the city water wasn't running. Now, that water tank has a pump to feed the condo towers. It has been flakey and we might have issues, but he mention that the clubhouse (ground level) would still have decent water pressure if we needed water refills or to use the bathrooms there. All in all, looking pretty positive. #hurricaneirma #puertorico #isabela

(Steph) We are the blue dot on the far left. The eye is moving NW. We had to close our doors for this latest rain band. I know, you're picturing a boarded up nightmare, but we are chilling up here watching waves from the balcony and loving that it's 79 degrees. #Irma

(Steph) Cable and wifi are down. Still have cell service so far. Happy my TV and DVD player and fan are on!

Jason posted photos and videos throughout the day of building waves. Here is a photo taken at 5:15pm:

(Steph) It's windy and raining. The waves are spectacular. The generator is running, and cable TV/ wifi is up. We will move to the closet bunker in about an hour. I totally expect wifi to go down after 8pm, and our phones won't get a signal in the closet. If the generator dies we have lanterns and flashlights and we'll be watching movies on laptops, and when we wake up tomorrow morning Irma is gone! We will post as soon as we can tomorrow, just need cell towers to be working. For you worriers, the strongest part of the storm is passing north of us. Our building is constructed to withstand hurricane winds. We are well above the level of storm surge and flooding. We have tons of food and water and we can charge devices in the car if needed (after the storm passes). We've talked to our neighbors and everyone is super prepared, there's even 2 physicians in our building who speak English. We are ready for Irma to pass by and get the hell out of here!

(Jason) The sea is definitely angry, my friends. But rest assured, we are well above any possible surge waters. #hurricaneirma#puertorico #isabela

P.S.- we are still hunkered down in the condo / closet. Probably last post until morning. Windy and huge waves. Goodnight.

**There are no posts overnight since it was the height of the storm and we were hunkered down in the closet with no wifi or cell service. We couldn't hear the wind, but I could feel the crashes from the waves hitting the cliffs below. The generator stayed on all night, so we had a fan and TV with DVDs. I watched Family Guy all night and slept maybe an hour or two on and off. Jason didn't sleep much, either. Lucy was a total trooper! We couldn't take her outside to potty, and we tried to get her to go on towels, but she held it until the next morning. She slept between us in her blanket.**

The day after Irma passes, September 7th:

(Jason) We are fine. Will post more soon. #hurricaneirma #puertorico #isabela

(Jason) Some tree branches and a lot of stones/rocks strewn in the parking lot. That's the only damage I've seen from our condo. No damage to the car.

(Jason) Damage pics from the huge wave that carried rocks and boulders through the security gates!

(Jason) So walking downstairs this morning to survey the storm's damage and I ran in former NFL (Dallas and Minnesota) running back Anthony McClanahan and his wife KC, who were also checking out the damage. They run Set Go 41, which provides humanitarian assistance in times of disasters. They were in Texas for Harvey and had flown here for Irma. They have been in San Juan and Isabela helping feed people in need as well as helping the homeless animals impacted by the hurricane. It was great to talk with them and learn about their generous efforts! We walked out to the beach to take a picture of them since I had my camera out. This pic is shortly after we realized we were a bit too close and were doused by a huge wave! #hurricaneirma #puertorico #isabela #setgo41

(Steph) Roads in town must be clear because lots of people cruising down here to see the ocean.

It took 15 minutes of standing at the top of our stairway to get this 4G signal. #Irma

(Steph) Half of all cell towers on PR are not working. 68% of the island is without power, and we are part of that. No estimate on when power will be restored. Roads in town are clear, gas stations and supermarkets are open, but not sure how much they have left. Shipping was suspended to the island so we'll have a lull on restocking of everything. Our generator is still running so far, and has fuel through Saturday. Pretty good chance of refuel truck getting here. We have running water and plenty of food. Tons of people at the cliff and beach to see the water - I'm sure they're bored with no power and no internet!

(Steph) We just lost our running water. We knew the pump was broken before Irma, and they couldn't get parts in before the storm hit. We'll check the clubhouse, it should still have water since it's ground floor. And we stocked up just in case.

(Steph) The water is back! I was thrilled to take a cold shower in the dark tonight.

September 8th:

(Steph) It's day 2, and we have no power, water, cable, wifi, or cell signal. Thankfully the generator is running, and we can climb up here in the stairwell to get a cell signal that lasts a few minutes. The migraine has stayed tolerable, but it has stayed. The big pain in the ass is water, but it's just our pump here (not the whole town) so we can get water downstairs if we run out. Just sucks to lug it up 4 flights of stairs! Hopefully it's fixed soon. We live without power all the time, so that's not really different for us.

(Jason) Got to escape the condo for a bit and grab some yummy BBQ. Definitely helped to de-stress. Still seeing some debris in the roads and trees on power lines. Fingers crossed some utilities will be restored when we get home.

(Steph) Checked out the grocery store today. Everything was stocked except for bottled water. Jason saw a cargo ship pass by this morning, so that's good. Looks like Jose is going to miss us! The vibe here is basically chill out and drink beers until all the utilities are back. The mojito stand already has a crowd, and the bars are opening tonight down the road from us.

**My favorite post from this entire experience**

(Steph) We have water and power and cable and wifi and cell service!!!!!!!!!!! I just ran through our condo yelling, "holy shit holy shit holy shit" while flipping on light switches and watching ceiling fans spin up. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

(Jason) So, NOT that I am complaining AT ALL, but we suddenly get power, cable, and internet right at 5pm on a Friday? 😂😂😂😂😜THANK YOU to all the utilities and emergency workers that made this happen!

And that was our Irma experience as it unfolded on social media.

Our water went off briefly a few times after that, and our wifi was really slow for another day, but overall Irma only kept us in the dark for about 60 hours. Considering that officials warned our power could be out for MONTHS, restoration of ALL of our utilities after 60 hours was a huge surprise! As of today, September 13th, there are still 122,000+ customers without power in PR, including some sectors here in Isabela.

Looking back on this experience, Jason and I both agree that staying was the right decision. We live on the 5th floor of a mid rise concrete structure that was built to withstand hurricane force winds. We were safe from wind, storm surge, and flooding. We were properly prepared to live without access to power, water, and food for at least a week. Fortunately Irma spared Puerto Rico the worst of her winds and recovery is happening much faster than anyone thought. PR is now home to 4000+ Irma refugees from our neighboring islands who didn't fare so well. Puerto Rico is known as the "lucky island" since most hurricanes pass to the north or south. Hurricane season isn't over until November 30th, so you'll excuse me while I go stock up on horseshoes, rabbit's feet, four leaf clovers, canned beans, and bottled water. 😉🍀🇵🇷