While some motorists have been in vehicles thick with dust, with messages like, “wash me” imprinted into the dirt, other cars sparkle daily. For that reason, some are beginning to question if St Lucia police would seriously start pressing charges against those disobeying the current water law.

“Still no rain and all those clean cars? When will the police start fining them all? Yeah, when hell freezes over!” said an infuriated caller to the STAR.

Water is on everyone’s mind these days—water from the sky mostly. In some places workers even started up rain countdowns. After all, the clouds hold such promise.

“It ain’t funny when you gotta be looking at your tap, just waiting for that little trickle of water,” said a man in a deep lunchtime conversation. “We can’t blame WASCO, they can’t make it rain!”

“My barrel of water almost done, what I going to do?” replied his lunch companion. “Father send the rain now.”

Added to the water conservation rules that discourage pressure washing vehicles and watering lawns with hoses, and engaging in other activities that are not “drought friendly,” the ministry of agriculture has warned even those who use portable water to use their discretion.

St Lucia’s situation isn’t unique however. Countries like Antigua, St Vincent and St Kitts and Nevis have been suffering the same fate. Just this week St Kitts was thankful as the skies opened up in such a way that left some events postponed.

“It has been raining in St Kitts all week,” said Vondez Phipps, a journalist from the island. “Now people are complaining that it’s raining too much, but I’m enjoying it because for the entire month of February it rained once.”

“It’s not been just drizzling, it’s been pouring. At least three primary schools had their sports days put off. Now some people are saying it’s because of politics. It rained exactly one month after our January elections.”

In any time apart from the present, rain would not be a breaking news story. With reports of a dramatic decrease in rainfall on the island, with just about 2.4ml recorded in the south and 1.7ml in Castries for the month of February, the situation is dire. Especially considering that rainfall for February normally amounts to about 44ml.

From the moment the country started feeling the effects of the drought, social networking sites like Facebook have served as appropriate rain monitors in the sense that if there was so much as a drop of precipitation, the entire St Lucian Facebook network would know about it.

On Friday, March 12, as most people got ready to settle into another weekend of possibly no running water, until who really knew when, a sort of magic happened that changed the way the rest of the day would go for most. Out of nowhere came the almost unfamiliar, yet longed for sound of rain hitting the rooftops. The sound so unfamiliar for some that they dismissed it, while others questioned the sound they would normally recognize immediately.

“Is that rain?” they whispered, eyes filled with wonder and hope, daring not to speak too loudly lest they scare away the weather.

There was a rush to the windows at some locations, while others rushed straight out the door. For them seeing was not believing, they had to feel, to believe. One would have likely seen the same looks of amazement painted on the faces of hundreds, had it been snow and not just rain invading their Caribbean paradise.

The seconds went by and still the rains came down, and intensified in some areas in and around the city.

“Yes! I heard it’s raining in Castries,” Facebook screamed. “No rain in Gros Islet? Don’t worry, yours will come soon. Enjoy the view of the clouds in Castries!”
Then it was dry, though still overcast at around 2:30pm. While Friday’s unexpected shower were an answer to many prayers, its left to be seen what the rest of the month holds. On Friday the St Lucia Meteorological Service weather summery stated, “A frontal system will continue to produce widely scattered showers over the Northern Windward Islands.”