The good news is that there are still no reports of injuries and surprisingly, there is virtually no damage to buildings, even those that had trees fall on them. All shrubs, trees and palm trees however all over the island look as if Omar took a giant weed eater and raced through and there is greenery everywhere. All of the 6 beaches we visited today had rock walls smashed, beach bars filled with boats and sand and on several beaches between 3 to 6 feet of sand has been blown away.

Anguilla is in a flurry of cleanup activity and the mood is almost celebratory, most likely because nobody got hurt. Virtually all businesses sustained damage to their grounds, but almost all of that is cosmetic and local business owners confirm that tourism season will start as scheduled, the first few days of November. Anguilla is still gorgeous and while the oceans aren't calm yet, that familiar turquoise is already coming back. The cleanup is just a matter of time and shortly, our little "rock" will once gain be "tranquility wrapped in blue".