Cyclone Rene'

On February 14th, Randy and I went out for Valentine's with a German couple on our base who have become good friends. We had heard a cyclone was building far north of us, but it was just a tropical storm level 2 earlier that day. While we went to dinner and swam in an increasingly-churning little bay at nearby Kaleti Resort, we found out that the tropical storm had upgraded to a Cyclone (Hurricane) and was up to Level 4. It was headed right toward our island, and was supposed to be a Level 3 Cyclone by the time it hit. We tried to determine from the website at the resort if the arrival time (from a weather station in Fiji, on a different time zone) was 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. the next day. Well, at 6 a.m. "BAM!" We got wind! I kept thinking of that movie Twister throughout the day when Helen Hunt yells out, "We got sideways rain. We got cows!" as she sees various things going by the car in the hurricane. We just had sideways rain, palm trees bending, a basketball (netball, here) hoop pulled out of the concrete, and some flooding on our campus in almost every little home (fale'). So, at the base-leader's counsel, we had our whole team and then a few in to our larger home during the cylone to wait it out, read, eat snacks, worship together, play games, and find whatever we could to occupy us by candle-light. It was sooo satisfying for me to find a bed or a couch cushion and sheet or blanket for all 14 people that found shelter in our home that night! We had our team of 11, plus two more Tongans and a Kiwi who was visiting to help speak on the campus that week. The next day, we spent much of it inside as well, but discovered a new pond on the field by our house, a couple palm trees down (which is hard to have happen since they are so flexible), and a fence or two down. The damage was minimal, but the cyclone was the worst this area had seen in about eight years. We found a few houses in town with roofs missing, and many plantations (esp. banana plants) devastated. We were happy to be able to offer hospitality, and to grow closer as a team as we hunkered down while 70-100 mph winds whistled outside! Here is a poem that Jo Jo wrote in the shape of a twister in his writing folder. Our team enjoyed hearing it.

CYCLONE RENE
February 16, 2010
Tonga
It started to rain,
And we played a game.
Palm branches broke,
And the floor got soaked.
Candles got lit,
And we ate a bit.
The wind did roar,
And Allen did snore.
14 people slept in our home,
All because of that BIG CYCLONE!

By Josiah, Age 7