Looking at some of the photos we took back then just jogs the memory some more. The day and night of the storm were bad enough, but the days, weeks and months afterwards were just as bad. Learned a lot of during that time and saw first hand how disasters could bring out the best and worst in people.

Ivan 2004 - The Lagoon

Kept checking the net to see if and when Ivan would hit and took a few precautions (not nearly half as much as we should have), like packing up electronics, important stuff etc. Didn't think that we needed to put EVERYTHING that could be moved, into the storeroom and in plastic bags.
We weren't totally naive though. We did do some vital shopping and made sure that the water tanks were filled, car was gassed up etc.

Couple of hours before Ivan hit, we went sightseeing... Yes, sightseeing! After all, the storm surge had started and the waves on the east coast were HUGE! Never in our lives had we seen the sea so rough! Saw all the yachts mooring up in the bays and putting out as many lines and anchors as they possibly could...... Still weren't worried, just slightly anxious..... I remember thinking that maybe we should have bought some more dog food.

Then the rains started and the wind.... still not worse than a regular thunderstorm. Kept thinking that I would get some great shots from our verandah, even had the camcorder out and ready. Moni and I were sitting there watching the trees dancing in the wind, but the wind kept getting stronger.... Then the first trees started falling in the distance and we decided to retreat to the living room and watch through the balcony door.

We have heard people say how the wind was loud....truth be told, it sounded like a train was coming coming down the tracks straight at us and started getting that feeling that we were tied to the tracks...naked!

When the trees around the house started going, we thought it prudent to move to the passageway in the center of the house. That way, no windows to break on us and double walls between us and the outside....forgot about the roof.
By the time it sounded like a full scale train collision, we had retreated to the bathroom....probably the safest room in the house (convenient if you decide you urgently need to use the toilet during natural disasters, or take a shower). Then the roof went....never thought would need a raincoat while standing in the bathroom.... Sounded like a machine gun in the distance... but that was the nails pulling out of the beams.

Ivan 2004 - Our House and View

Spent the rest of the storm and the night in the storeroom, where we should have gone in the first place (concrete walls and roof, solid door).

Next morning, as soon as it got light, we went outside... what a shock that was!! Looked like the island was bombed...looked like a war zone.

The photos just don't do it justice...they can't... What sticks most in my memory is the smell... Kind of hard to describe...... moldy fresh cut grass wet blanket soggy clothes seashore dusty attic and just a touch of sewer thrown in for flavor. (told you it was hard to describe).
We were lucky. We only lost our roof, furniture and clothing, but were insured. Lots of people were not as fortunate.

Looking at the photos, it still gives chills.
With everything flattened, we had a fantastic view though ;-)
Just had a look at some of the photos we took afterwards and the difference between then and now is absolutely amazing.

Ivan 2004 - Grand Etang Lake

When we were finally able to get around, almost everywhere you went it was simply....'shocking' is not the best way to describe it.
Places that were fixtures in your mind, which you grew up assuming would always be there, landmarks you took for granted, were simply ..gone...
We spent several months without electricity and lots of basic necessities.. we would sit in the evenings listening to the radio and looking at the stars, which were brighter than usual because there were no lights visible.

What we missed the most during this time?? Ice! Nothing is as appreciated as a cold drink, until you can't get one.

Disasters bring out the best and worst in people and we learned some valuable lessons from Ivan. I guess the most striking was the reaction of friends and family. We both know of people whom we considered close friends and family who did not even try to call to find out if we were o.k, not even after phone service was restored months later. The worst excuse i heard was from Moni's family in Germany. One of then said that it was too expensive to phone her cell.....(I guess it is hard to find $2 to call your niece to see if she is alive).
Then again, it was amazing how people pulled together. We had total strangers and family contact us offering help in one form or another. When we asked how they knew us, it was usually a friend of a friend, or because of our websites and forum.

The stories are too much to mention and all we could give in return was a heart felt 'thank you'!
We kept receiving barrels and boxes with instructions to give it out to whoever needs it, and for months afterwards we were doing exactly that, together with a few close friends.

Once the shock had worn off some, one of our other worries, besides putting our home back together, was that we were now both unemployed.
As our jobs were tourism based (Moni doing Website advertising and me as a dive instructor), needless to say, we were out of work until who knew when....

Grand Etang Lake Now 2007

Ivan was a real eye opener, but most people tend to forget that we had another hurricane about 9 months later...Emily..

It was an experience I would not trade because of the lessons learnt, but neither of us would wish it on anyone. Because of it things we thought were necessities, are just not as important.

Never would have thought Grenadians would be better off than Katrina victims....but we are, we definitely are!

Now, whenever we hear an island has been hit by one, we get the chills because we know what they have to go through.

Hopefully, it will be a couple decades before we have something like that again, but I'm not too sure......

For more Ivan Photos you can check out Grenadaphotoalbum.com
Another Ivan Story Ivan was terrible - by Desmond Brown

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