An Abbotsford woman is safe after riding out Hurricane Irma on one of the islands hit by the powerful storm.
Sushil Dosanjh is attending medical school on the tiny Dutch-governed Caribbean island of Saba. The island was directly in the path of Irma, and Dosanjh and her classmates took refuge in a dormitory. Video taken during the storm and posted on Dosanjh’s Instagram account shows heavy wind and rain lashing the building, while a photo afterward shows some damage from the storm, primarily to trees.
“When I first found out I would be attending medical school in the Caribbean, never did I think that I would experience the strongest Atlantic hurricane in history,” the MEI grad wrote on her account. “Thanks to the friends that helped make this night a lot less scary, and thanks for the memories Irma, hope I never see you again.”
A week ago, Dosanjh flew into the island in preparation for the start of studying at the Saba University School of Medicine. On that day, she posted a picture of a beautiful tropical sky, with the caption “I could seriously get used to this.”
Alas, the weather didn’t last, with Irma forming and turning into the most powerful hurricane ever measured in the Atlantic Ocean.
Dosanjh and her friends seem to have remained upbeat since the hurricane rolled through. On Thursday she posted a selfie with the caption “We’re a bundle of sunshine mixed with a little hurricane #SurvivedIrma”
The News go in contact with Dosanjh and asked her to recount her experiences during the storm. Her response cant be found below:
Hello!
My name is Sushil Dosanjh. I’m a 23-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C.
I came to the Caribbean island of Saba for my first semester of medical school at the Saba University School of Medicine. I flew into St. Maarten at the end of August, in order to take a ferry to the island of Saba.
A few days after I got to Saba we started to hear news of Hurricane Irma, and that it was headed straight towards us. We were then informed that our first week of school was cancelled in preparation for Hurricane Irma. We were told to stock up on non perishable foods, batteries, candles, first aid supplies, etc… In preparation for the hurricane all of the windows of the dormitories and houses were boarded up. In addition a few days before Irma hit the Dutch navy was sent as additional aid.
The night of Sept. 5th, a few of us students all huddled into one dorm room in preparation for the storm to hit. The Saba government then shut of the power on the entire island of Saba at midnight in order to protect the workers working at the power plant. We then sat in the dark and waited.
At around 6 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 6th, is when we were all awoken by EXTREME winds. We could hear debris flying around and plywood flying into the sides of the building. It was an extremely loud and scary night. At one point when the wind speed was the highest we did indeed manage to open the door and take a quick video, as none of us had experienced a hurricane before, especially not the worst Atlantic hurricane in history.
Via @bubblesush: Video from the Caribbean island of Saba during Hurricane Irma pic.twitter.com/NuPhxV381l
— Tyler Olsen (@ty_olsen) September 8, 2017
At around 1 p.m. on September 6th it was finally safe to step outside. The moment we stepped outside we were in shock. Saba looked completely different from when we went into lockdown the night before. All the leaves had been blown off the trees, debris was scattered everywhere, there were roofs blown off buildings, trees uprooted, cracks in the cement of our dorm rooms, cars had been moved across parking lots, AC units blown off their ledges, etc.
That same day we went and assisted the community and the Navy with cleaning up the debris off the roads of Saba. Saba took the hit fairly well because we are surrounded by mountain. Unfortunately St. Maarten had a completely different story. We are unsure how the remainder of students are going to get to the island as the St. Maarten airport is completely destroyed. Our classes are supposed to start now on Monday Sept. 11. However, we are now waiting for Hurricane Jose to hit. Even though it is not supposed to be as strong as Irma, we are still very wary of the pending Hurricane.
Again, from @bubblesush, video showing damage on a hilly road on Saba: pic.twitter.com/V2yvyJjmcW
— Tyler Olsen (@ty_olsen) September 8, 2017