September is here and it’s obvious that we’re in for a
very active Hurricane Season. So far up here in West Florida
we’ve felt the effects of two storms, Fay and Gustav, and are
currently keeping an eye on two more systems out in the Atlantic
while waiting to see where Hurricane Ike will turn. After what
was essentially a two year hiatus, the tropics are going to be
much more temperamental this fall.
Compared to the States, Vieques has had it very easy for the
past several years. Since I moved to the island back in 2005,
we’ve never once had to secure our house for an oncoming storm.
In fact, the last hurricane to seriously affect Puerto Rico was
Georges back in 1998. This same storm would later bull’s-eye Key
West while I was living there, smashing a boat I was building at
the time and leaving me flat broke for months. After that, I
never went to another hurricane party. There’s really nothing
fun about these storms.
In the Keys we had an escape route with US-1, the famous
Overseas Highway. It gets plenty of use during Hurricane Season
as Monroe County evacuates at the drop of a hat. Most of the
time these evacuations are controversial false alarms. I tended
to stay put during the storms. I feared getting caught in a
traffic jam on the Seven Mile Bridge when the winds hit more
than anything that could happen by staying.
But Vieques doesn’t have the luxury of a bridge to anywhere. We
have to depend on a sometimes reliable government run ferry to
get us off the island, which is one of the reasons that we now
move Stateside during the season. If I have to be caught in
another tropical storm or hurricane, and I’ve been through
several, I want it to happen up here.
Our physical safety isn’t what I worry about. Our house on
Vieques, like almost everyone else’s, is solid block
construction. It has a flat, poured cement roof and sits 90 feet
above sea level. It’s not going anywhere no matter how strong
the storm and my Jeep and flats boat fit inside the carport,
well out of harm‘s way. What I do worry about is the aftermath.
When Hurricane Georges hit us in the Keys, I went without power
for five days, which wasn‘t such a big deal. I had friends who
didn’t have electricity for two weeks. When the power finally
came back on there were mosquitoes hatching from my carpet and I
was trading my beer to the National Guardsmen for the MREs they
didn‘t want. I learned to love freeze-dried chicken loaf for a
few days that month. October is no time to be without
electricity in this climate. Things were much worse for the
folks down on Vieques. Many went without power for over a month.
The electricity often comes back quickly in Florida and the
Guard is on scene before the winds even hit. That probably won’t
be the case for Vieques. When the Navy left back in 2003 a lot
of post-storm infrastructure left with it. Getting aid to the
island may be a little slower the next time but as part of a
U.S. territory, Vieques will still fare much better than places
like Cuba and Haiti. Fortunately, the island hasn’t been tested
during its past half decade without the military and I hope it
won’t be anytime soon.
With all of these considerations, a lot of people simply don’t
travel to the Caribbean this time of year. September is
officially the dead season on Vieques and a lot of tourist based
businesses, including my own, close up shop until winter. The
good news is that the bars and restaurants that do stay open are
never crowded and many guesthouses lower their rates. For the
few anglers that do visit, Captains Franco and J’s schedules are
wide open and they’ll be eager to go fishing.
Perhaps the most ironic thing about Hurricane Season on Vieques
is the weather, which is usually wonderful. The winds, which
seem to constantly be howling when I’m down there guiding fly
fishermen in the winter and spring, are often just a gentle
breeze this time of year. The flats become glassy calm and you
can spot huge schools bonefish tailing from a quarter mile away.
It’s fly fishing at its best, but hardly anyone comes down to
enjoy it. So now I leave the perfect flats of Vieques in the
fall for South Florida, where I’m probably going to get hit by a
hurricane. Go figure.
Capt. Gregg McKee,
WildFly Charters
