Voices in the Dark

go through By Nicole Georges

November 10, 2017 at 12:45 pm

Maria brought unprecedented carnage to the island.

Roseau, Dominica (TDN)
– Sunday, September 17, 10:00 AM: Dr. Thomson Fontaine discusses Hurricane Maria’s imminent passage through the Windward Islands on Q95 FM’s “Lifeline” show. He warns that Hurricane Maria will increase dramatically in intensity due to low wind shear, extremely high ocean temperatures, and excess moisture. He predicts that the eye will pass directly over Dominica sometime Monday evening. Monday, September 18, 3:00 PM: Q95FM radio station closes its physical headquarters in Dominica, and staff members go home to shelter in place. At that time, TDN radio will remotely take over local broadcasting for Dominicans on the island as well as the Internet portion of Q95 FM. Local Dominican media continue to broadcast. Dr. Fontaine takes over as announcer from Lennox Linton so that Q95 FM can continue to inform local residents of the storm’s arrival and when it will pass over the island. 6:00 PM He accurately states that the eye of the storm will pass over Dominica around 9:00 PM and will remain over the island until at least 3:00-4:00 AM. He predicts that the general path of the storm over the island is to enter Petite Savanne, pass through the middle of the island, and then exit to the north. He warns that Hurricane Maria, with winds of 165 mph, is a dangerous Category 4 storm; it is a formidable combination of Tropical Storm Erika and Hurricane David due to the amount of rain and winds expected. He urges residents who were exposed to mudslides and flooding from Tropical Storm Erika to evacuate and to leave any homes that do not appear to be able to withstand the winds of the storm. 7:00 PM: Storms and rain begin to hit the southern part of the island; power begins to go out. TDN begins to receive calls from terrified relatives who have contacted family members in the Dominican Republic, relaying harrowing reports of seeing galvanized roofs being torn off. Tensions begin to rise as Hurricane Maria strengthens to a Category 5, and feelings of unease quickly turn to fear. Dr. Fontaine speaks with Joshua Francis on TV. The sound of the freight train wind can be heard over Francis’s barely audible conversation. Hurricane Maria begins its fierce assault on the island. Over the next eight hours, Dominicans on the island send out distress signals, and families overseas can only listen in helpless despair. Anxious relatives tune in to Q95 and TDN radio for any information they can gather. 3:00 a.m.: All communications on the island are lost. And then… silence.
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Dr. Fontaine estimated that Maria left the Dominican Republic at about 3:45 to 4:00 a.m. The storm had passed, but the extent of the damage was still unknown. Hours passed in silence, and calls from the Dominican diaspora continued to pour through the phone lines; on the first day after the storm, Fontaine received more than 4,000 calls, messages, and texts. He persisted in answering the phone and providing updates. At one point, he announced the call signs of Dominican amateur radio operators and urged listeners who were able to try to listen.

A storm of the century.

At 4:00 PM on Tuesday, September 19, American amateur radio operator Julian Antoine finally found one-way radio communication from the Dominican Republic. On the other end was amateur radio operator John Christian, who had trekked into town from his home in Kingshill to set up and attempt to make contact with the outside world. At about the same time, another American operator, Stuart Gittings, also made contact. Their first report was relayed over TDN radio: “The island is completely destroyed, medical and emergency assistance is urgently needed, almost every building has been damaged, our people are in shock, and many casualties have been reported.” Thus, for the first time, the world learned the true horror of the impact Hurricane Maria had on the Dominican Republic, claiming lives, destroying homes, and destroying communications. After Dr. Fontaine completed his record-breaking 24 hours of continuous broadcasting, TDN management began calling in reinforcements to operate the line and take shifts. The announcers did their best to keep their listeners calm and optimistic while overcoming their own fears and concerns. Over the long hours, the full picture of the disaster was painfully and slowly revealed. The Dominican Republic had been hit by a devastating blow that had never been seen before. Even Hurricane David, which radically changed the island in 1979, did not cause the level of devastation that Hurricane Maria did. In the first few days after the storm, broadcasters took turns to keep vigil for Dominica, from Dr. Fontaine in South Sudan to Sam George in Texas to Nicole Georges-Bennett in Toronto to Anthony Drigo in New York and back to South Sudan. Communications from Dominica remained sporadic, even as volunteer broadcasters teamed up to update listeners on the latest developments in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit reported clearly and bleakly in the Antiguan media about what was happening on the island. Ninety-five percent of the housing was destroyed, and the flora and fauna no longer existed; the large trees in the rain forest snapped like toothpicks, with the bark torn off, looking like they had been peeled; the death toll continued to rise, and the number of missing was unknown.
Unprecedented destruction

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the devastation was widespread.

TDN staff did their best to provide what few facts they could verify to their radio listeners through a network of amateur radio operators in Dominica. Even so, it was challenging as radio operators tried to conserve dwindling battery power and limited their coverage to once or twice a day. The burden on the broadcasters began to show, as they also dealt with the stress of not being able to contact their loved ones, so other broadcasters from overseas offered to take shifts. Giselle Francis and Peter Thomas took shifts to lighten the workload, bringing new energy to the broadcast. Station management agreed to continue relaying the broadcasters until regular communications with the island were reestablished. Over the next few days, chaos and trauma escalated as reports of armed and indiscriminate robbery emerged. The port and airport were unusable, and food and water were running out. However, regional support was quickly mobilized on the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, while the diaspora also moved quickly to secure relief supplies and get them to Dominica by all necessary means. TDN radio provided a platform for callers to communicate and broadcast some text and voice messages from island residents after Digicel and Flow restored limited services. TDN also monitors regional media and broadcasts any relevant news, including the Prime Minister’s UN speech and the government’s daily press conference.
The Road Ahead
In the weeks following Hurricane Maria, TDN Radio continues its online partnership with Q95FM and its mission to inform, educate and entertain; to be a beacon of the Dominican voice both inside and outside the island. TDN Radio will now play a role in the reconstruction of the Dominican Republic, contributing to rebuilding a stronger and better Dominica. We are here for you. Aprés Bondie C’est La Tere.