My First Cyclone

The next few posts will be what I wrote during and after I experienced/survived my first cyclone. The cyclone was category 4 and unless you have been through one, you have no idea how it feels, despite what the photos and Wikipedia say. The aftermath, is one of devastation and although there are glimmers of hope to follow, there is the constant reminder of pain and loss all around. I did take photos and videos but at the moment, I am not comfortable about sharing them here. There's plenty to see on the internet.

Wed. 29^th March, 2017

11:00am

A few days before it happened, we got wind of the news that a cyclone was expected. Being a tropical cyclone area, we knew this was always a possibility but what it really meant, we had yet to learn. We spoke to people who had been through cyclones before and we stocked up on water -  both for waste and water for drinking, canned and packet food, torches and batteries. We bought a couple extra torches and I dug out the camping stove I bought five years ago but had never used. I bought some gas cartridges for that, too. We filled up the car with petrol and got cash out in case of emergency.

At times, the atmosphere was excitement, in the form of ‘adventure’ but there was a lot of apprehension and trepidation. This cyclone was expected to be a category 4 but we were assured houses were built to survive category 5 cyclones. At the supermarket a day or two before, the air was electric as it was on everyone’s mind and evidenced in everyone’s trolley. People made plans to stay with friends but we chose to stay home. One of my reasons for this was I would be too worried about what was happening at home to enjoy being at someone else’s place.

At church on Sunday, everyone was talking about it. I had been putting cyclone preparation advice on Facebook when I received it and a couple people acknowledged that had helped them. One young lady though, admitted she had not read it until after she had gone shopping and bought a freezer full of meat. Those who had meat, cooked it up and put it in the freezer which would defrost in time for meals. At the last minute, Andy and our friend Matt came and took down the blades of the outdoor roof fan as we had heard that they can fly off and gouge windows/walls in a cyclone.

Monday came and the fact it was a day off work/school was not uppermost in my mind. “Have we prepared enough?” we wondered, as the rains and winds began. I ‘smashed a bunny’ (chocolate) and continued to put cyclone news and clips of what was happening around home on Facebook. By about 10 that night, we lost power so we went to bed. Andy slept fitfully but I slept well, waking up only a few times. The banging was constant and loud, winds blew and rain fell but when we woke up the next morning, the roof was still on, windows were still in place and we still had some phone reception and access to Facebook to let people know we were OK.

According to the radio, the cyclone wasn’t expected to hit land until 1pm so we went and dozed fitfully and at 12 noon, all was calm. We deduced from that, we were in the ‘eye’ of the storm despite it apparently not having hit land by then. Andy took Milly out to do her business and we found out we no longer had phone/internet access. We turned on our battery operated radio for regular cyclone updates as the wind and rain picked up and came from the other direction.

I taught Andy how to play the board game ‘Sorry’, practiced my guitar again, listened to the radio and tried to sleep. Andy said the only things he would add to preparation in future was: he would get ice for the cooler and would take rubbish to the dump as rubbish was supposed to be collected Tuesday. It’s in our shed at the moment and will probably be quiet smelly by the time it gets out of there. Ewww.

It’s not really a sound sleep when you are in the middle of a cyclone. There is relentless banging, constant uncertainty as to whether it will get worse or whether damage to the house could still occur and then Andy discovered the windows on the right side of the house that were more ‘exposed’, were letting water in at the base of it. He put towels at the base of the 3 windows and regularly changed them to dry towels as we prepared for another night’s sleep.

The next day (Wednesday) there was less rain and the wind had died down a little. We looked out our loungeroom window and saw houses we had never seen before although we knew they had been there. Visibility had increased with the trees that had blown over. We had no running water now either. No power. No phone/internet. No water. There was a knock at the door and our friend Matt had turned up in his car to check up on us. He messaged my son Nathan for me and I asked Nathan in the message to put it on Facebook that we were OK. While Matt was here, our friends Dan and Mel, their daughter and our mutual friend Mel H, also turned up to check up on us. It was nice to have contact with others. Both of them spoke of drastic damage done around the area, trees across the roads, roofs off and radio announcements told people to stay put and not go ‘sightseeing’. Matt said there were people taking photos all over the place.

Just listening to the news at 11am it said we are still susceptible to experiencing damaging winds and flash floods in the area. Having the radio on gives some link to the outside world and provides a small amount of relief when feeling so isolated. When the radio is off, the sounds of the wind crashing, trees creaking and chainsaws being used are all that I can hear. (Or Milly licking herself) I have thoughts of wondering when it will all be over and ‘behind us’ and we’ll have power, water and communication with the outside world again. I told Andy last night that someone ought to turn the cyclone button off. I am quite thankful that I am not a pioneer.