Parallels: Life Reflecting Art?

When I wrote the book, Hurricane of the Heart set in the beautiful island of Dominica, I never for a minute thought that what I penned would play out so vividly in reality.

Hurricane of the Heart is about American party animal, Kyle, and his polar opposite, Alia, an indigenous Dominican native whose love blossoms despite their differences when they are trapped on the island of Dominica during a powerful hurricane. The fictitious Hurricane Harriet which devastates the tiny island, plays an integral role in the story.

Hurricane of the Heart was released in July 2015. A month later, the island of Dominica was devastated by Tropical Storm Erica that left most of the island’s infrastructure under water and mud, at least twenty people dead, and residents stranded without food, electricity, and water. It occurred just two days before the anniversary of the most devastating hurricane to hit the island in recent history, Hurricane David in 1979.

Life imitating art, or just coincidence? 
There are so many parallels between what occurred in Dominica and what I wrote in the story that my husband, who hails from Dominica, keeps saying I jinxed them.

Douglas - Charles Airport under water

In my story, there was little time to prepare for the hurricane because it was supposed to pass north of Dominica, bypassing the nature isle. Somehow the storm changed course and hit the island, totally devastating it. In reality, Tropical Storm Erika was heading directly for the Leeward Islands north of Dominica. That morning, my husband awoke me to say that the storm was heading straight to St. Kitts, my home country. An hour later, the news began trickling in about the devastation in his home country. Then came the mad rush to establish contact with his family—his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings—who still reside on the island. Fortunately, they were ok, but their country wasn’t.

The photos and videos came pouring in of rivers running through streets taking with them cars, bridges, homes, schools, and unfortunately people. Many images showed  major landslides throughout the island, isolating villages, trapping residents.

Douglas - Charles Airport under water

Major damage to air and sea ports and roads meant travel and aid distribution was severely impacted. The mountainous island with its 365 rivers depends on bridges to connect people. Many of the bridges had been washed away.  Communication was patchy at best.  My sister-in-law, here with me on vacation, tried frantically for days to get in contact with her relatives to no avail. Four days after the storm that is still the story of many people. The uncanny thing is that all of these experiences have been captured in my novel that I began writing over four years ago.

Hundreds of trapped residents of Petite Savanne evacuated by boat

More than just the hurricane itself is the aftermath and what was described in Hurricane of the Heart is still playing out. Even the relief efforts, the political nuances seem to have an uncanny resemblance to what is occurring right now.

But Hurricane of the Heart with its devastating Hurricane Harriet is 100% fictitious. It’s a romance with a happy ending. Tropical Storm Erika is real and it will take a lot of work and time for the island to recover and be restored to pre-Erika situation. There are several organizations who are donating aid to the island.The government of Dominica has established a website (www.opm.gov.dm/) and endorsed certain funding pages. I have included a link to that website for those interested in assisting with the recovery effort:

http://www.opm.gov.dm/?p=1058 and The Dominica-American Relief & Development Association (DARDA).

My publisher and I will be doing our part. We will be donating 75 cents of every sale of the Hurricane of the Heart eBook between September 1 and February 28, 2016.

Whether it's prayers, donations, volunteering, or a purchase of the ebook, I hope you do your part.