It's easy to forget the rest of the World when one is relaxing on the beach at Silver Sands Jamaica. Back in the 1980s, my wife and I lived and worked in Kingston. Our weekends were made special as we would go to our second home, Endless Summer Villa at Silver Sands, on Friday evenings and return to Kingston on Sunday nights. We would leave the real World behind, tune out and not even listen to the news while we were there, dedicating our time to windsurfing and relaxing on the beach.
So while we thought that 11 September 1988 was just another normal Sunday in paradise, Hurricane Gilbert, unknowing to us, was bearing down on the island. Jamaica's previous direct hit by a hurricane was Charlie in the 1950s, so this Gilbert was very big news. So big in fact, that no one could imagine that my wife and I did not know about it, so no one bothered to tell us.
When we inquired of some of our friends why they were leaving the beach unexpectedly early that Sunday afternoon, they told us that they were heading back home to Kingston to make preparations before Gilbert hit later that night. We had been lulled into a false sense of security at Silver Sands as we did not particularly hurry to pack up and head back to Kingston with my mother and our great dane, Lottie, not leaving until sundown. This proved to be a big mistake.
About half-an-hour into the journey, we encountered the hardest rain I have ever experienced. Visibility was reduced to a few yards and water was pooling in the roads. I decided that shortly the roads ahead would be flooded and impassable, so I decided to abort the journey and return to Silver Sands.
As we entered Silver Sands from the East and passed near the cemetery, the car hydroplaned and I lost control completely. There was no danger of collision with any other vehicles as the roads were deserted, but the car picked up speed and skidded sideways for many yards before it hit the North bank and rolled over into the field and back onto its wheels again.
When I collected my thoughts, I checked, and my wife, mother and I were fine, but the back window of the Volvo had shattered and Lottie was nowhere to be seen. As we made our way in the dark through the field to the road, we shouted for Lottie but she did not appear. There was nowhere to shelter in the pouring rain but luckily a vehicle came by after a few minutes and the driver picked us up and took us down to Endless Summer Villa.
After we had dried off and changed out of our wet clothes and recovered somewhat from the shock, it was time to batten down and prepare for Hurricane Gilbert. But we could only think of Lottie and wonder what had happened to her. My wife decided that she would start the hurricane preparations and that I had to go back to find Lottie.
So I left her and my mother and set off alone walking in the pouring rain up the hill back to Duncans to search for Lottie as the massive hurricane was fast approaching the island. Everywhere was quiet, no one out and about, and not a car on the road. I made my way in the dark to the scene of the accident and looked at the wreck in horror, wondering how we emerged from that without injury. Thank goodness we always wore our seat-belts even back then before it became compulsory.
I searched the area, shouting "Lottie" with as much energy as I could muster. The task seemed impossible as Lottie was as black as the night itself, and the sound of the rain and thunder drowned out my voice.
But after about half an hour of searching, luck became my friend and a dark figure appeared in the distance, making its way towards me at great speed. Lottie nearly knocked me over when she jumped up and rested her front paws on my shoulders, her head inches from my face. I had never seen her so glad to see me and the feeling was mutual.
I walked back down to Endless Summer Villa, Lottie at my side, and we made a dramatic entrance, much to the delight of my wife and mother. But celebrations had to be short-lived as the thought of approaching Gilbert meant that we had a lot to do to prepare before the hurricane hit Silver Sands Jamaica.
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