Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2017 | Page 29

ricane Irma Experience
By then, the layer of wood on our walls were being
uprooted, and the concrete structure that we were
in, vibrated under the pressure and force of Irma.
Water was coming in through the windows as a
result of the torn-away shutters. This was now the
case throughout the station - most of our shutters
blew away and a window got smashed in.
In the midst of all of the scattered debris and
emergency calls, when the winds were calming
down, I remember doing a live interview with
the elders in the studio. At that time, even before
seeing the damage to the rest of the island, they
expressed that this was one of the worst hurricanes
they had every experienced. I further reported
to news corporations such as CNN, BBC, NPR and
The Guardian to raise awareness of the situation
on Anguilla and volunteered with the National
Emergency Operations Centre as Public Information
Officer.
Many declared Irma a catastrophe. The aftermath
on Anguilla was painful to witness. Almost nothing
was left the same after Irma. Government buildings,
businesses, hotels, transmitters, poles, trees, cars,
houses were damaged. People were now homeless,
and we were certainly all in full-on survival mode.
It’s been weeks since Irma (23/09/17), we are still
without electricity and running water. Children
have not been able to return to school, and many
employees are now temporarily unemployed.
However, I do believe in the full restoration of
Anguilla, and other nations who have been
temporarily destroyed by either Hurricane Irma or
Maria.
Mélange asked Nisha what she perceives life
after Hurricane Irma will be like for her ...
“Truth be told, it is a great honour and I feel divinely blessed to
have served my homeland at such a crucial time. I too suffer from
‘Chronic Restlessness’ like Barack Obama says in his Book ‘The
Audacity of Hope’, hence I commit to not only the restoration and
continued development of my homes (Anguilla and Dominica),
but also to the wider Caribbean and extensively the Global
community. I believe that attaining my first degree in Journalism
and International Relations would allow me to do just that, and
thus I am in pursuit of this.
I also wish to continue building my online Ecommerce Pet Store
‘Nurtured Canine’. This too I hope will allow me the opportunity
to donate to charities within Anguilla and Dominica as post
Hurricane Relief.”