Sitting out Otto

We have now been at home for 3 days - everything is closed - and there has been a State of Emergency declared on the island due to all the flooding and damage. Apparently there hasn't been this much rain in 30 years or something. It's pretty wild. It hasn't stopped bucketting down and we have very strong winds. Otto is working his way up to becoming a full hurricane, but has already moved up to the Turks & Caicas - we are just feeling the effects and will do so until Saturday.  Cannot believe that weather would become such a big thing in our lives. Our favourite websites now are Storm Pulse and the National Hurricane Centre. Amazing.

Luckily we have had electricity and telecoms, so apart from the very limited amount of things to do (read, play rummy, computer games, surf the internet) we are OK and not too much damage in our area, although as I write, T is outside busy chopping down banana trees. The Elevator Road is looking pretty precarious, and driving has definetly become dangerous - so looks like we wont be going anywhere soon.

Need to order lots of electricity-free activities and take up knitting, or something. Maybe when the piano arrives we will start using that for family entertainment. Anyhow, the kids are being amazing really, and nobody has injured anyone else yet, but I actually can't liken this to any other experience I've ever had before.  What is the Caribbean equivalent of 'cabin fever', which sounds like it is rather Canadian and associated with snow?

Latest NOAA Weather Update (our compulsive reading):

As of 11AM Sub-Tropical Storm Otto has been re-categorized as Tropical Storm Otto and was located near 23.8N/68.0W, or about 620 miles south-southwest of Bermuda. Otto is moving slowly to the northeast. Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph. Otto has made the transition to a fully tropical system with thunderstorm activity more concentrated near the center. Rain bands associated with Otto continue to move through the eastern Caribbean region.

 Now that Otto has become a fully tropical weather system, it has a greater chance of becoming a hurricane on Friday. By Saturday, Otto should begin to weaken as it accelerates out to sea. Although Otto’s center will remain well-away from any land areas, a large band of squalls extends from the eastern half of Otto out to 500-600 miles south and east of the center. These squalls are impacting the islands of the northeastern Caribbean Sea. Additional heavy rainfall is expected across the islands of the northeast Caribbean today through Friday morning.  Some scattered showers could linger into Saturday. In addition to the flooding, mudslides are also possible.