December 2009
December 20, 2009
Dear Brethren, Friends and Family
Ni sa bula from a battered but recovering Fiji land.
I woke up Sunday morning Dec 6th to the sound of running water to find that
one of the joints in our water supply pipe at the back of the house had given
way sometime in the night.
It flowed out over $150 of water before I discovered it and shut off the water
valve. Then I found out problem #2: I did not have any PVC cement because I
had not replaced the can I used at Josh's house when I helped him with his plumbing.
Then there is problem #3: it is Sunday and no hardware stores are open on Sunday.
Sooooooooooo, I got some baling wire and duct tape and wired and taped it back
together and turned back on the water. The water company is supposed to come
out and relocate our meter because currently it is in a hole without a cover
and everything it rains the hole floods. The meter reader has never read our
meter and only guesses. So when the bill has come I have to go down and show
them the real number and they adjust the bill. The last one was for $38 but
was adjusted to $9.00 for actual usage. The next time I was in town I bought
a can of PVC cement and will repair it correctly when they come and work on
the water meter. The wire and duct tape are working quite well, why tempt fate!
Looks kind of cool also!
'TIS THE SEASON
On December 4th & 5th it was very humid and warm, just ripe for a cyclone. So I started watching the websites. (After you have been a few like we have you start to recognize the signs.) We were getting light rain at night and the days were humid. We bought Kathy a pair of gumboots during our shopping for the upcoming rainy season. On Dec 12 I noticed a developing low Northwest of Fiji which was forecasted to develop into a depression and come right over Fiji. The maps showed that the low was to get down to 997 mb of pressure and the low was to come right over us whereas the main rain was to go to the east of us.
.
I took pictures off the website to services Sunday because the forecast was for this system, which was now depression 4p, to hit landfall about 2pm Sunday afternoon. I showed the forecast to Josh and Bola and Josh just sloughed it off and said there would be no cyclone. (Joshua had been gone for a week teaching, baptizing and conducting two marriage services in Suva and then up to his farm in Labasa, the other main island, where he talked and taught the Christians there and checked on his dalo, cassava and kava planting.) We had services and fellowship meal and as we were leaving to go home it started raining. By mid afternoon Sunday 4p was upgraded to cyclone Mick, forecast to make landfall Monday afternoon. On Sunday it was classified as a category #1 (winds up to 45 kmh). There is a saying here in Fiji: if major weather hits on the weekend forget about knowing about it because the government does not work weekends. Sorry but true! Sunday night and Monday morning I monitored the government website and they didn't even have it listed with cyclone tracking. All information I could get was from New Zealand and Hawaii.
Cyclone Mick Hit us a lick!
By 1200 noon Monday morning December 14th cyclone Mick was a category #2, it
had slowed down Sunday and picked up strength from the warm waters Northwest
of our island Viti Levu, the winds were really picking up and the pressure was
still going down. Electricity went off island wide (the central supplier cuts
all power to protect their equipment and the public from downed lines) at 12:15
Monday afternoon and with it our internet connection and computers. I still
had my weather station on batteries and was watching the pressure going under
990 mb. The rain soon started with gusts of winds up to 60 mph. On Monday morning
Kathy and I had been moving everything off the floor and out of shelving close
to the floor in case of flooding. The furniture in the living area and dining
room was stacked up and away from the louver windows. The bed in the bedroom
was moved away from the louver windows and towels stuffed at the top and bottom.
We have no shutters to cover the windows like we did in Vanuatu.
Then for 4 hours we got whacked. We took the high winds and heavy rains straight out of the east. We don't know where the eye was but the winds continued to gain in force and the rain was coming into the house laterally. By then my rain gauge had been blown off and the wind sensor gave up. I don't blame it. Then we started getting the winds from the South, less rain but higher gusts. The pressure was 974 mb with gusts in excess of 80 mph.
Banana
Trees Down (Day after)
Broken mango tree
Front of house
Back yard
Flood
waters
After over 9 inches of rain, the rain eased (only 50-60 mph gusts) and we only
had to contend with the banshee winds. When it was raining and windy the water
was coming in under the doors and over and through the louver windows. I had
sand bags on both the office doors which is the low place on the house which
kept most the flood water out. We had towels on the floor and windows in the
living area and dining room which kept out most of the rain but we were mopping
and baling as fast as we could.
When the rain eased up we could finally see what was happening outside. The
large mango tree next to the house had split and the larger half fell right
across the back corner of the house doing very little damage (thankfully). The
winds were still over 50 mph ripping leaves off the coconut trees and during
the storm over 2 dozen coconuts hit the roof. Some of the green coconuts which
hit the roof weighted up to 10 pounds each with some coming down in clusters
in the yard. The winds tore off the tarpaulin shelter I had over the car in
the first hour so I had (in the driving wind and rain) bungee-corded the tarp
around the car for protection. We finally lost the tarp around the front porch
and ended up bringing the dogs into the shower room the third hour of the storm
because there was no protection outside and the waters had risen to the level
of the back door. We kept water from coming back up the drains on the floor
by putting unopened gallons cans of baking apples on the drains.
Most of our banana trees were knocked over, all the coconut trees sustained
damage, mango trees were knocked limbless and there were over 100 coconuts floating
in the water which surrounded the house.
Fortunately the rains eased at this level and the water receded without getting
into the house or container this time. I did find out later that the winds had
sucked out the caulking in several places where I had caulked some small holes
in the side of the container. It was on the side away from the wind so very
little water got in but it helps one understand how much wind was going over
the container to create a vacuum on the back side enough to suck out caulk.
By 7pm the storm had passed and that was left was "brisk to strong"
winds. Kathy and went outside to war zone devastation. What branches were still
on some of the trees were stripped bare of leaves. Our electricity lines were
off the insulators on the pole and our telephone lines were lying across the
yard over the fence and across the main road. The dogs were let out and managed
to find three new born mice that were more dead then alive but such fun to pick
up and the throw in the air (the dogs not me). We walked through the debris
down to the marina and we were having a high tide. The seawater was boiling
with the winds. The winds were still high enough in velocity to be screaming
through the mast wires of the yachts dry-docked at the marina, the banshee sound
which could be heard 2 miles away. We thought it was some trains coming through
like when you hear a tornado. Just outside the harbor at the marina a tug towing
a barge had floundered on the reef. The barge had broken loose and was because
of the high tide inside the reef and grounded on the shore. After the high tide
the barge (with a bulldozer on it) is grounded hard on shore and the tug is
on its side on the reef. Good luck salvaging these boats. The boats that were
in the marina all have a layer of leaves on them from the winds stripping the
trees which used to line the dock area.
Marina
boats w/leaves
After the cyclone we had no information in English on the radio, everything
was in Fijian and Hindi. We were clueless. When I had mobile phone service for
awhile I called the government radio station and asked why there was no news
or information in English and the lady hung up on me.
No electricity, no telephone thus no
internet, so we read books until 9:30 pm using candles and went to bed. Enough
excitement for the day. Since the house did not flood there
was no reason to move to a hotel so we are camping out here, we like our own
bed.
Tues December 15th:
Overcast with light wind, no rain, still no electricity,
no telephone thus no internet, no fresh bread, no newspapers, no buses or taxis,
intermittent mobile phone service because the cell tower in our area was blown
away. The road out of our area to the main road was blocked by two huge
downed trees. News, word of mouth, no electricity for a week! We had just bought
meat last week! I put on my gumboots and started cleaning up the yard. I forgot
that even with overcast skies bald heads need hats. I am now wearing a Rudolph
red color on my head! I blistered it good!
Afternoon: the road is open into town; I tried the car (wanted to go check on Bola and his family in Sabeto and could not call) but had a dead battery, not flat, dead. Nobody sells batteries here at the marina. The marina manager Millie Marshal was cleaning out the marina kitchen which took major flooding and was throwing away the stuff in the refrigerators (no electricity) so she loaned us her car to go get a new battery; we went into Lautoka and bought the battery ($75) and a small generator (Kipor IG2000, 1.6 KVA, $800) enough to power our refrigerator and a few lights. We also bought 5 gals of fuel at the only station in Lautoka with electricity that could pump gasoline. We brought the generator home without a book (they couldn't find one for it) and found out the generator did not have any oil. It is a 4 stroke engine so I had to go down to the marina and get a liter of oil before I could crank it up and get the freezer goods frozen again.
Tree on cane train tracks
On our trip to town we saw: trees down everywhere, some of them large ancient
ones; trees which were still standing, stripped leafless; the majority of banana
trees are down; papaya trees stripped leafless; most of the highway billboards
no longer exist (no great loss to me); bridges have huge trees and rubbish shoved
up against them from the flooding; ready to cut sugar cane flattened in the
fields; some of the squatter houses alongside the road are without roofs with
walls collapsed inward. Our area was one of the hardest hit. Several large trees
had toppled over onto the sugar cane tram lines and the sugar cane trains are
stopped until the trees can be moved. One was at least 10 feet in diameter.
A container yard on the way to Lautoka had a few of their empty containers blow
off the upper (5 high) stacks and a warehouse nearby )where I bought the battery)
had some of their ventilation vents come flying off like propellers. Latest
dead toll is 13 with the majority of them being fishermen who did not report
back since the storm. A local tourist cruise ship with 34 tourists aboard was
driven aground during the storm as well. They were rescued and are now on their
way back to Australia with a real action story to tell. Why
that was my thought too, what were they doing out in a boat in a cyclone!
The floodwater had pretty much receded from our yard by Tuesday afternoon leaving
piles of coconuts, leaves, rubbish (styrofoam chunks from the marina area) and
dead birds shoved 2 feet high up along the back fence.
Called to see how Josh and Anna were. Josh and Ann had water in their house as well. They do not have windows in their house only wooden shutters they can close like windows. Part of the sheet-rock ceiling in the living area sagged because the winds blew water into the eves which were not properly boarded off. But their roof stayed on which some of their neighbor's did not.
Weds December 16th:
Sunny and dry. The generator was used for the washing machine so all the towels
that were used to stop and soak water (which are starting to smell sour) could
be washed. I spent the morning cleaning up the yard: throwing all the downed
coconut branches in a pile over the back fence; propping up the banana trees
(4 of them have bunches of bananas growing on them); cutting the ones that could
not be saved; gathering and moving all the coconuts to the front yard where
I will haul them to Bola's or Josua's.
I then went to Bola's house also to find a store with Pinesol and bread for
Kathy. Found the Pinesol in a new store just on the main road up from our house.
They had no power but were open. When I got to Bola's house Josua was there.
The flood waters had been 2 feet deep in Bola's yard (dry now). Across the road
the fields which were watermelons in the January flood (ruined) had been replanted
in tobacco and it had all been under water again. Workers were trying to salvage
what they could from the leaves.
Josua and I went into Nadi (about 5 kms) and bought bread. Power had been re-established
in the major centers and bread was now available. Perhaps we will get fresh
bread at the marina store tomorrow! We dropped two loves of bread off at Bola's
house for his family on our way back to Vuda.
We came back by the our house so I could load up some coconuts for Joshua. We
fed him lunch, loaded the car and went into Lautoka. I cannot cut up the fallen
mango tree because the sap is like poison ivy to me. So I will have to get a
chain saw and get Josua out to help. To get someone else to cut it up would
cost $200 and an 18 inch Homelite is only $350. And a fella never knows when
they might need a small chain saw, right! Chain saw we got. Took Josh home and
returned back to home and Vuda.
Still no electricity, no telephone, no internet, water howbeit brown, bad-to-no mobile phone service, but home.
Thurs (Dec 17th)
Half an inch of rain during Wednesday night. We are still learning to cope with
a small generator for electricity. We have learned the art of dragging an extension
cord around and plugging in and unplugging different appliances we wish to use.
Usually the fridge is plugged in. If we want to use the washing machine off
goes the fridge and on goes the washing machine. The generator does the old
SurgE
SurgE
(revving up of the engine) every time the agitator goes back and forth.
At night we plug in a pole lamp, use it to read in the living room and then
in the hallway to help negotiate to bed. We use a fan at night to keep the humid
air moving as well. We can use the microwave, coffee maker and toaster but not
together or with the fridge on. We have a propane-gas stove so there is not
a problem with cooking. We have a small heater element on the shower head and
we are able to take quick showers (with everything else disconnected) before
the demand of the heating element overloads the generator and shuts it off.
Otherwise it is cold showers and Kathy heats up water on the stove to use to
wash her hair. It is costing us about $25 a day for gasoline for the generator.
Our normal electricity bill is under $70 per month. The water is back to Fiji
clear again also.
Friday (Dec 18th)
During the afternoon the electricity came back on at the BP, Mobil and Total
petrol depots, across the road at the propane depot and down at the Marina but
we are on a different circuit. One of our lines is still off the insulator on
the pole so we are still without supplied power. The mobile phone panels were
fixed on the tower as well and we have mobile phone service, I was able to call
Jason and let him know we were still camping out but otherwise fine. He commented,
"Oh, just like an ice storm only warmer." Yep, smart mouth!
Fortunately for the sugar industry and unfortunately for our listening unpleasure
the sugar trains are running again at all hours of the day and night.
Also Friday Josua came over first thing in the morning and used the chain saw
to cut up the fallen mango tree and trim back some of the broken limbs on other
mango trees. We also cut down a dead coconut tree. I helped him haul the branches
and throw them back over the back fence where we will burn them after they dry
out. The larger pieces of wood he will come haul off for firewood sometime later
this month. After this Josh and I had to go to Bola's because the weed whacker
he had borrowed from me needed fixing. The holding handle on the cutter wand
had broken and I had to replace it so he could control the cutting head. When
we returned from there we came back by the house, loaded more coconuts in the
back of the car, picked up Kathy and we all went to town. We dropped Josh off
at his house and Kathy and I did some shopping before returning home. So far
I have not had a blister breakout from mango sap!
Kathy said it and I agree, We are getting
too old for this!
SUNDAY:
We had services at Sabeto this morning and fellowship meal afterwards. Normally
we have a break up until after the Holidays but nobody is going anywhere this
season so we will continue to hold services at Sabeto. We had a BBQ and I took
our BBQ out and used it. Here was how I took it out. I did get some funny looks!
Maybe some thought it was an airfoil.
Car
with BBQ on the back
I am sending this Sunday afternoon our time. We are still without regular electricity
but the telephone company came around this afternoon and put up new wires for
us. They told us that the electricity is supposed to be restored tomorrow.
Thank you for your prayers and support that allow us to work in the lives of
people here in Fiji and the South Pacific.
We wish for each and everyone of you a happy holiday
season and hug those grandchildren of yours for us as we cannot hug ours.
Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.