Cannonier: Bermuda! Please Extend a Helping Hand

FRIDAY, SEPT. 7: No Bermudian who was alive at the time will ever forget the community spirit that showed itself after Hurricane Emily and Hurricane Fabian. 

Strangers helped each other as if they had been friends all their lives.   Those in need had only to ask, and help would appear.

Those whose job it was to help did wonderfully well.  The Police, the Regiment…all of those involved in the official response to the hurricanes and the damage they caused worked their fingers to the bone, going well beyond the call of duty. 

But It was ordinary, everyday people who made such a difference.  These were people who could very easily have stayed home with a book or something, who were out making it their business to do what needed to be done to get the Island back together. 

Those people surprised us.  We surprised ourselves.  We were surprised that, in this cold, dispassionate day and age, we could care so much.

In truth, I think that kind of community feeling is very much a part of us.  We might forget it is there sometimes, but a country our size, 700 miles from the nearest land, born in a hurricane and exposed for 400 years to whatever the sea and the wind tossed our way, has to have a population that is closer together than most countries do.

We are surely expressing that close community feeling every time we donate to charity or pick up trash from the roadside or join the End to End Walk.  I think we do that more than people do in other countries.  We want to help each other. 

As I write this, the forecasters are saying that Hurricane Leslie is going to pay us a visit on the weekend.  Most people in Bermuda know how to deal with a storm like this.  We know to stock up on flashlights and batteries and fresh water, and to secure things that might otherwise blow around in the storm.   We know to tape up exposed windows and lay in some cans of food, and to make sure we can open them.  We know how to always keep a window cracked on the lee side of the house so that the pressure doesn’t become so great the roof is pushed off from the inside.  We know all the tools and equipment we should have for making minor repairs ourselves.

But many people don’t know these things.   The last serious hurricane to hit Bermuda was Fabian in 2003.  So most of our guest workers will never have been through this before, and will be nervous about what to do, despite reading the excellent advice carried in our news media.  They could do with someone to talk it over with and answer their questions. 

If someone like that lives near you, why not go calling today or tomorrow, if the wind isn’t too bad, and give them a little advice…let them know at the very least that you’re a person they can reach out to for help if need be.

There are also people who live on their own, especially seniors, who may know all the tricks, but would still appreciate hearing from a neighbor, or getting a little help to shut the shutters and clear the garden of loose articles.

My message today is this - don’t wait until after the storm has passed, Bermuda, let’s get going now.  Let’s see if we can’t prevent damage from occurring by helping our neighbours and friends.

Finally, I hope I may on Bermuda’s behalf send greetings and best wishes to all those involved in the management of the storm and Bermuda’s response to it - the Governor, the Premier, the Ministers who are involved, the civil servants and the members of the Emergency Services, workers from Belco and BTC and all the many others who are involved. 

All of Bermuda wishes you the best of luck!