It was Tues. Sept. 9th and we were travelling by car to Niagara Falls, N.Y. for a day trip of sightseeing, lunch and cross the border shopping.
It was a far cry from where my brother and his wife were supposed to be.



They flew to Holguin, Cuba, Friday, Sept. 5th to attend a wedding – even though Hurricane IKE was lurking and creeping slowly inland toward the coast of that country.
I was nervous and leery about their going with all the weather stuff going on, but agreed to come and care for their cats while they were away.
My brother is an old storm chaser and a survivor of a few hurricanes since he lived in Florida for years so I trusted his judgment.
Saturday, Sept. 6th came and went – they were safely there – so far so good.
No news is good news, I think.
I continued to track Hurricane Ike on radar and started to sweat.
Then, on Sunday, Sept. 7th around 7:30am, the call came.
My brother called from their luxury 2nd floor suite (which he requested in case of flooding) to report that the entire complex had been given evacuation orders – now!
I felt bad and could hear the disappointment in his voice and was sorry that their time in the sun and sand was cut so short but happy that they were getting the hell out of there. He didn’t know at that point, how, when or where they’d be flying out. He said he’d be in touch and hung up.
If things had progressed to this point, I now had to pray that their plane would be able to lift off the tarmac amidst the high wind and pelting rain.
I held my breath and started to pace the floor of my brother’s apartment. The cats knew something was up and hid under the bed.
Here I was, nestled safely in this apartment, in one of the world’s largest cities, praying for the safety of everyone that would be faced with natures rage.
I continued to monitor IKE’s path on the radar.
Then, approximately at 4:30pm, I heard keys work and open the door of the apartment.
There before me stood two sunburned, weary and storm lashed travellers – orphans of the storm – home at last!
They had reluctantly but wisely made the decision to fly home.
My brother had considered staying behind to hurricane chase and report for UPI but changed his mind.
As I looked at their lobster red faces I saw that at least they’d had one day on the beach to remember and that if they’d stayed on longer, both would have gotten 2nd degree burns!!
Luggage dropped, cats loved up, dinner eaten, we continued to watch IKE on its path of destruction over most of Cuba. It was then that we realized that the hotel they had stayed in had probably been reduced to rubble or washed away by the 5 storey high waves!
Their memories and any pictures that they had time to take, would be all that was left of it. They couldn’t help but think of the locals working in the hotel and those they saw on the roads leading their skinny donkeys – where did they go and did they survive?



My brother and his wife were thankful to be out of it – they were lucky enough to get away in time – but what about those left behind?
Tues. Sept. 9th .Many thoughts were racing through our minds as we sped along the smoothe highway towards the Canadian/USA border, safely seat buckled in, car engine humming as we continued on our way for a day of shopping and stuff . . . . .