We don't like this kind of training

Well, we made it through the hurricane at the embassy - or should I say the bomb shelter. We were there for 2 1/2 days and were able to leave there Monday night. At noon that day we were sworn-in as Peace Corps volunteers. My group was put up in the Pegasus hotel in Kingston - a nicer older hotel. As if we hadn't had enough excitement, the hotel caught fire in the lobby area around 11:00 am. Yes, the hotel caught fire. Fortunately for Tiff and I we were at the PC office. Unfortunately for our colleagues, though, some were caught inside where smoke had penetrated. They were all evacuated but not with out some pandemonium - because the hotel was operating on a back-up generator (due to the hurricane), the lighting and smoke alarm systems were not working. Thus, people had a very difficult time exiting the building. Fortunately everyone was evacuated without too much harm - about 10-15 guests were taken to the hospital for mile smoke inhalation. Three of our volunteers were treated as well. One of our heroic colleagues was seen bringing an infant out of the building - three cheers for him. Due to the inundation of smoke, we were put up in different hotels last night. This proved a difficult task as many hotels around the Kingston area are booked because of the hurricane. The cause of the fire is still to be determined, but some believe it to be an electrical fire and may have been caused the generators.

As to the damage from the hurricane. We are still getting reports in and know that the south coast took the brunt of the storm with known villages (towns) being wiped out almost entirely. A significant portion of the island is still without power and some of the water supplies have been compromised. Because there are no water towers all water is delivered via pumps - so no electric no water. A lot of businesses and homes have water storage tanks, however, and some even have generators, especially the businesses. The word on my site is that our host mother reported that she suffered very little damage and only lost a few banana trees. We still don't know when we will make it back there. We hope to leave by the latest Saturday. The elections that have been originally scheduled for Aug. 27 have been pushed back to Sept. 3. There is still a state of emergency across the island which includes a 6:00 p.m. curfew. This is done to prevent looting. Below is a map of the infected areas of the island as well as the path the Hurricane Dean took. Once I get an updated version I will place it on my site.