Stocking Up for Hurricane Season

For exactly half the year, from June to December, Saharan wind storms and warming seas make the Caribbean vulnerable to hurricanes. In the two years that I've lived here on St. Croix, the most I've seen are tropical waves: choppy seas with darkened skies full of rain and thunder, lasting one or two days. Lucky for us, and unluckily for Florida and the Gulf states, these waves have grown into full hurricanes well west of us.

But for St Croix residents, these calm years hardly erase the memory of Hugo, the Katrina that devastated St. Croix 18 years ago. As newcomers to the island, we notice the still-frequent references to Hugo by long-time residents, and we pay attention. We are lucky to live in a new house that was built with hurricanes in mind, so we have a hurricane shelter, a water supply stored in cisterns, a generator, windows and doors designed to withstand flying objects, and concrete walls that transform this place into a fortress.

In case of a big bad storm, or the aftermath in which food may be scarce, I've learned to stock up my pantry. I buy enough canned foods and goods to sustain us for a few weeks if necessary. Come December, I start using up all the goods in the pantry, and in June the restocking resumes.