Noel has been on a well earned family vacation on the south west coast of Jamaica this week. His trip home was delayed as it coincided with the planned arrival of Hurricane Dean. His location is marked with a white dot. The Red areas sustained hurricane force winds, whereas the orange experienced tropical force winds.

His Blackberry worked throughout and reported the following excerpts...

"We are moving to the most solid manor house with 20 others, on a limestone bluff 100 feet above the sea. If the storm passes north of the island the mountains should protect us. If south and we get the leading edge, it could be hairy. We are postponed to a Wednesday departure and if the whole infrastructure beaks down mudslides, trees, power) we could have trouble getting over the mountains to Montego Bay. But we preferred to stay with people we knew in remote surroundings than face possible disorder in Montego Bay."

"It is so WIERD to sit here having cocktails in this fabulous house with a staff waiting on us, eating on china and silver, while a Cat 5 storm is 8 to 12 hours away. One of them has 12 children at home."

"The "night man" Pepelto has gone about his business making coffee, setting out the eggs for the cook and sweeping and vacuuming the pool, placing folded towells on each lounge as if a normal day of sunning were expected, but he looks up anxiously from his work with each gust in the top of the trees. Three old trees to our left are covered with the Jamaican version of kudzu and seem most at risk in our surroundings unless it is two massive trees on the steep bank to the water that serve now as our best gust monitors, there tops tossing about."

"We are moving to the center of the house and boarding up vulnerable windows on the East facade trying to get out of the fall radius of the big trees. Wish the report were more favorable. Oddly, still no big wind, but the water is very unsettled, rising against the cliff and the humidity is becoming extreme. Heavy grey black clouds moving from North to South. No rain yet. Spirits among the party mixed."

"I'd say its sustained 30 and gusting to 45. If you stand casually facing it you stagger back in the gusts. You could easily still brace yourself into it. Offshore where the spray is exploding up it must be higher. The house we moved FROM is staring straight into the wind now and the staff reports by cell that small trees are coming down. Still sultry humidity. Each house is assigned a watchman, each of whom was issued a fifth of rum. Big area off shore, perhaps 1000 yard in diameter just exploded into the air, perhaps in a cyclonic whorl."

"Most of the water surface 2000 yard offshore and out is now continuous water patches of exploding spray, often cyclonic. The wind is in the process of shifting to Northeast. We are in the lee of the mountains behind us so the sea is flat 500 yards out until it begins to explode in spray and tear outward to sea. The eye has passed Kingston and by phone we have reports that the wind was very high, blowing roofs off houses."

Monday AM - "We made it thru the night with a few limbs down. Big swells breaking on the waterfront eroding all the sand from the beach leaving bare rock. Hot and sticky night. 5 houses all made it but one patio fell into sea. Still have heavy surf."

P.S. Tuesday AM - "Power still out. BB running down."