The "Surfin' In A Hurricane!" Story

It was an ordinary day. Checked my webcam and found it was sunny both here and in St. Martin (SXM). A week or so ago I made reservations for Carol and I to travel to SXM over my birthday in September. Never gave it a thought that it is the hurricane season in the tropics and that is the reason that the house and car rental are both dirt cheap. Then I started reading about the possibility of Hurricane Emily developing and heading across SXM. Wow, what would happen if we were in SXM and a hurricane hit? Certainly would ruin our vacation. So, I got online and started reading all I could about the hurricane season in SXM. Members on TravelTalkOnline started telling about the great vacations that they had during the month of September. The island is pretty quiet compared to quite a few other months. One poster, jiminboston, said that the odds are you will have wonderful weather. The likelihood of bad weather is not high. At least one person has a positive attitude. One person who lives on the island wrote that last year a category 1, or mildest hurricane, hit SXM and power was out for several days. There were debris flying through the air and covering roads after the storm. Some streets were flooded and not passable. Best if you are high off the beach in a concrete structure. Well, we have a second story concrete studio, high off the beach with hurricane shutters. And, the place has survived many hurricanes in the past. Should be OK. Another person suggested travel insurance while another said they had made a few trips in September and always had fantastic weather. Another writer said that you are dealing with the laws of probability ... chances are you won't be caught in one, but on the other hand ........ Then transplantsxm gave some stastistics about the possibility of a hurricane during hurricane season. There have been 49 hurricanes in the last 139 years. The longest gap between storms was 12 years (1966-1979). SXM is brushed or hit by a hurricane every 6.32 years. Average MPH of hurricane hits is 105 MPH. Statistically when SXM should be affected next: before the end of the 2013 season. And then the last stat really scared me. The peak time for a hurricane during the hurricane season is September 7th to the 13th. Yikes, right over my birthday when we will be there. So, I said to Carol, "What do you think?" She replied, "Certainly would be exciting! And, what a story it would make!!" OK, our plans stand as made! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.