Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to describe events from the eyes of the people that experienced them, not actual eye witness accounts.  This is a work of historical fiction, as each of these works is based off of first-hand accounts of peoples' experiences.  No names are intended to match any real life person, and are purely coincidental if matched. With that out of the way, please enjoy the (fictional) blog!

Haiti Earthquake

January 13th, 2010

Yesterday started out like any other Tuesday just outside Port-au-Prince until a little before 5 o’clock. I was walking home from work when I began to feel the Earth rattle under my feet. The shaking intensified causing me to lose my balance. While recovering from my fall I looked towards the city and witnessed buildings crumble before my eyes as plumes of dust and smoke rose from the area. Worried about my family, I ran home. The ground shook even more but not like before. I was not expecting to see the city in such chaos or disrepair. The earth appeared to have opened up and swallowed whole roads and buildings. I was able to find my family and they were safe, but there is a large loss of life.

Sources

• http://www.newyorkdailytimes.com/news/story/y/75005_as-haiti-mourns-quake-survivor-found-in-rubble.htm
• http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.earthquake.dominican.republic/index.html
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8456233.stm

Hurricane Ivan Strikes Grenada

September 7^th, 2004 – Undisclosed Location in Grenada

We aren’t very sorry for the crimes that we committed. Our political killings were what we believed in, but we weren’t successful in 1983.  As reports of this storm spread throughout this seventeenth century prison, we are hopeful that the storm might give us some way of escaping.  It is just a faint hope, however.

September 8^th, 2004

The rain has started to pick up heavily.  The winds are getting louder, but no damage has been done to the prison, at least for now.  Our chance to escape may still be approaching, however. 

September 9^th, 2004

This storm is the worst I have seen in years. Earlier in the day, there was enough damage done to the prison where we were able to escape, at long last.  The people of Grenada must be terrified that the men they put behind bars are now loose, but that is what they get for putting is in an old prison.  The government will not be prepared for this kind of damage and destruction, so we can go looting as we please.  All the buildings that we have seen so far have been destroyed, so I think that at least ninety percent of the island’s buildings have damage to them.  This destruction will only aid us in our quest, and hopefully we will be able to finish what we failed to do in the past. 

September 10th, 2004

Almost all the homes I have passed through so far have been destroyed, which has helped with the looting.  Some students have taken up weapons in an attempt to stop looting, but there are so many choices that we have just avoided resistance where it occurs. The Grenada government has done little to respond to the damage of the storm, as they themselves appear to have been hit exceptionally hard.  It appears that the best response so far has been from England, as I see an English battleship off the coast.  If the English help the Grenada government intervene, our freedom may be short-lived.

Sources:

• "Hurricane Ivan Batters The Caribbean." Maclean's 117.38 (2004): 10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.
• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hurricane-ivan-devastates-grenada-6162138.html
• http://web.archive.org/web/20061122113718/http://usinfo.state.gov/wh/Archive/2005/Feb/24-832208.html
• http://web.archive.org/web/20041011092510/http://www.cnn.com/2004/WEATHER/09/08/hurrican.ivan.ap/index.html
• http://web.archive.org/web/20070818214217/http://finance.gov.gd/newsitem.aspx?nid=632

Hurricane Hazel

October 13th, 1954

In the mountains just a short distance from the town of Jeremie in my home country of Haiti the sky began to turn dark and the wind and seas grew wild. We had little warning of what was about to come. From our high vantage point one of my friends and I watched as the powerful storm they called Hazel blew the sea into the city and swept away all smaller structures. A prison hospital was completely demolished and the homes of Roman Catholic fathers and sisters were quickly washed into the sea. The customs house and bank were also damaged. When the storm passed we attempted to cross the mountains in search of help. When we were rescued we begged for them to send an S.O.S for help directly to President Magloire.

Sources

• Storm Hurls Most of Haiti City Into Sea. (1954, October 14). Chicago Daily Tribune

• The Associated Press.. (1954, October 14). Hurricane Smashes Haiti. New York Times

1692 Port Royale Earthquake

June 7^th, 1692 – Port Royale, Jamaica

I wish we knew ahead of time what was going to happen; I wish we had something that would give us a warning for a disaster as great as this.  Between the hours of eleven and twelve am, my house started to shake violently. I got my family up and outside to see what was going on when we heard shouts of “EARTHQUAKE!” We turned to face Port Royale in the distance, and what we saw was the city built upon sand vanish into the Ocean.  Almost the entire city was gone in about two minutes, swept into waves of sand.  The tops of the ships that were in the harbor seemed to be at the same height as the tall houses which had now collapsed into the sea.  After seeing that, we ran away from Port Royale as fast as we could, trying to get away from the destruction that followed.  We somehow survived the disaster, and moved with the survivors to create a new town at Liguanea.  We have been digging graves for many that have perished, and more people keep dying each day due to the after-shocks; these have gone on for months now, but thank God the shocks appear to be not as dangerous as they were before.  I don’t know how much longer we can keep digging, but we must try to press on.   

Sources:

• http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=CNMTAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PA222
• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1692_06_07.php
• http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_tsuinfo_2001_v3_no4.pdf