False Alarm

Last Thursday afternoon all the PCVs here in Guatemala received this text: “Alert. Hurricane dean approaches Guatemala. Prep 4 consolidation. Respond 2 this msg by text.” A detailed email followed with instructions to prepare an emergency bag in the event the Consolidation phase of our Emergency Action Plan (EAP) would need to be implemented in the coming days.

Four days later, this past Monday, the EAP was implemented, kicked off with an ominous “CONSOLIDATE” text. Volunteers in the at-risk departments made their way to their respective consolidation sites to wait out the storm. And wait we did—for two days—for rains that never came. It didn’t even sprinkle. I hadn’t experienced a day in Tactic without rain, and yet there wasn’t a single drop for the whole two days all the volunteers from Baja and Alta Verapaz spent sequestered in our consolidation hotel. Any site of a cloud or picking up of the wind would produce a collective, “Here it comes!” but we, along with the National Hurricane Center in Miami (they had predicted a possible 5 to 10 inches of rain for parts of Guatemala), were all very mistaken.

Although it turned out to be a needless exercise, I think Peace Corps made the right decision in implementing the EAP. During hurricane Stan in 2005 (which was neither as strong nor close as Dean), some 2000 people died here in Guatemala in landslides and floods as a result of torrential downpours. Volunteers weren’t consolidated at that time and it took four days to locate everyone after cell service went out. Peace Corps didn’t want a repeat of that nerve-racking event, so they were very precautious with Dean.

Now I just have to explain to everyone here in Tactic why the crazy gringos ran off to a hotel when there wasn’t any rain.