"Bermuda is another world, Seven hundred miles at sea." We pride ourselves in being "not like other places". Sometimes it can be to our benefit and other times not so much. Here is where I can say our uniqueness was advantageous.
It is no secret to Bermudians and those who have come into contact with Bermudians that we are obsessed with Smartphones, one in particular, the Blackberry. Referred to as the “Crackberry” by some, it is not uncommon for one to possess multiple devices. The iPhone is even gaining popularity. This was something I was totally grateful for this week as Hurricane Igor invaded Bermuda’s waters.
As a Bermudian living abroad for the last two major Hurricanes Fabian and Igor, I couldn’t help but notice how very different Bermuda dealt with the two as far as communication. Igor was the first Hurricane to hit Bermuda in the age of Data. Data is a service that enables your Smartphone to become more than just a phone. It allows you to access Blackberry Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook to name a few. The four mentioned were in a sense my constant connection to the island, before, during, and after the storm. As more traditional utilities were being knocked out of service due to the high winds and rain, Bermudians and also Commercial Establishments maintained constant communication through Status updates, Tweets, Blackberry and WhatsApp messages.
Just a few years before, while Fabian hit, Bermuda became almost a “black zone”. All I could do was sit and wait. Meanwhile my imagination was left to run wild and only think of the worst. During Igor, Bermudians took to their cell phones (maybe because there wasn’t anything better to do but listen to the wind) and began updating, giving the world a play by play. I sat on the couch in London as the updates rolled in. “Boaz Island is flooding, nobody is allowed downstairs right now”. “My electricity is still on!! Go Belco go!!” 15 minutes later “My electricity is out!!!” It was the most exciting bit of reading I’ve read in a long time, but it was also reassuring that if they are making updates they must be safe.
Twitter and Facebook in particular get a bad reputation all the time, but in this situation they were used to provide up to the minute first hand information to all of us “outsiders looking in”, coverage that even the best and most respected Broadcasters couldn’t do. I knew the Bermudian had broke free moments after it had, someone posted it on Facebook. I knew St. George’s town square was flooded, a picture was sent on Twitter. I knew about the Ferry Terminal in Hamilton, BerNews posted a picture. By the time the storm was over and the news was broadcasted to the world (as a Bermudian would say) “They were late”.
After the storm I even applaud how Companies used these outlets, in particular BELCO on Twitter. BELCO constantly sent out information that the BELCO workers will work until 12am, what numbers to call if there was an electric emergency, and even a running a tally on how many customers were out of power. I was impressed to how fast that number dropped in a matter of 24hrs.
We live in the age of communication and during Igor Bermuda as a people made the best possible use of what was there. It was unintentional but I hope if continued, it can show the rest of the world another side of our uniqueness. We truly are another world.
