So it turns out that the hour I took to email blog my initial "all clear" didn't work and I do apologize for leaving those of you not on twitter or facebook hanging.
All of Anguilla survived Omar without any injuries nor major structural damage but a great amount of damage to the island, beaches, trees and the greenery everywhere looked like a giant weed eater ran over the island.
And that was a category 3 hurricane passing 50 miles away from us!

Enclosed some pics but am trying to catchup from days without power and water and - gasp - internet and will do a larger post as soon as possible.


Bankie Banks Dune Preserve with Rendevous Bay sans 6ft of sand.



random wildlife that washed ashore and several people reported live fish and seastars flopping around in their flooded restaurants. oh and the Pumphouse was filled with sail boats and I have a great pic I gotta dig our of the owner carrying a boat called "angry" out of the bar.



how many stranded boats do you see here?
all in all there were 6 ranging in size between 25 and 60ft, some are now in the middle of resorts!



interesting that all greenery was pointing to the east after the hurricane, all shrubs, grasses, trees, almost like they were scared to look west - the direction the storm came from. never seen anything like it.

I have some great  videos of the huge waves and the devastation to the trees on the island, that look like someone turned them inside out but my brain is still a bit "flooded" and am meanwhile teaching a Domino 8 class in the US, so give me a few days to post.

And by the way, I was right in my earlier post and not knowing what to expect was the worst part of this experience (if you overlook the part of the night where everyone on the island, including myself thought we were going to die).
We didn't die and I have a new respect for Anguillians, which aren't typically known for their organizational skills, but there wasn't a single person the next day without a shovel or broom in their hand, helping dig out stuff or clean up and the removal of repair of power lines and trees was an effort the government and private people started a mere hours after the hurricane and went on 24/7 and by the time 2 days had passed, the island looked completely different. Amazingly fast cleanup!
Also within hours, the first beach bar was selling beer again and by the evening after the hurricane the first restaurants were open and cooking with generators and gas.

I bet by the time I get back to Anguilla, it'll almost be like before, with less sand and trees but with the same liveliness and music everywhere!

P.S. Oh and I discovered these things called "seasons" here in the northern US states! Turns out they make your trees turn different colours! Also, it creates arctic chills. Which basically means low 60's.
If the frostbite doesn't make me loose my fingers, I'll post more on how I survived the cold after Omar.