The last two weeks have been so dramatic here in Bermuda, weather-wise. We had a tropical storm and a hurricane in a space of seven days that just seemed to come out of nowhere. This hurricane season had been quiet until the last week.
IMAGE: NASA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
I have been here five years and these two storms have been the worst that I have seen. The first one was Tropical Storm Fay on Sunday, October 12. No one took this storm seriously. We did not close all the shutters or bring in anything that the wind might blow away like you are supposed to when there is a storm coming. By the time we went to bed, there was a hurricane watch issued by the Bermuda Weather Service and still we were not alarmed. We lost our power around three in the morning and the heavy winds did not start until seven in the morning. I heard the heavy winds from inside our our home but I had not anticipated the amount of damage that was outside. We did not get any damage but everywhere you went there downed trees and nearly ninety percent of the island had no power. Some houses had damaged roofs. Most people on the island are convinced that Fay was a hurricane and not a storm.
The following day, Monday, I found out there was an advisory for a hurricane that would be coming on Friday. We still had no power. The whole island went into preparation mode. People started boarding up their houses and at the same time clearing out the damage from Tropical Storm Fay. We did not have much to do as our house has shutters. I was thankful that my son did not mind being in the dark because we only got power back on Wednesday night. I was also thankful that we had running water, I do not mind losing power because I can find alternatives.
As the days went by, all the models were certain that Hurricane Gonzalo would be a direct hit. The predictions were that it would be the worst hurricane in over a decade. I got so scared because the predictions were that it was going to be a category 3 or 4 storm. I was here when Hurricane Igor hit Bermuda in 2010 and it was category 1 storm. I could not imagine what a category 3 or 4 storm would do to this tiny island. On Wednesday I bought all the food that we would need before and after the storm. My husband like everyone else on the island had a three day working week. This was done to allow people to finish off their preparations before the hurricane.
On Friday morning when we woke up it was like any other day. It was cloudy but other than that you would not know that there was a storm coming well except for the ants (Each time we are about to get rain in Bermuda you get ants and sometimes inside your house). Sometime around midday it started raining but it was not windy. We lost power just after one in the afternoon and we knew we would get it back after the storm. The weather deteriorated as time went by. We were listening to the Bermuda Government Emergency radio station which gave updates every 30 minutes. It started getting windy after eight at night but it was not as bad as we had expected it to be. My husband was actually disappointed at this stage. After about two hours the winds died down as the eye of the storm passed directly over the island. It was as if nothing was happening it was so calm, people actually came out of their houses (though the government had advised against this). We got into bed, Leo actually slept but I could not sleep because on the radio they said the winds were coming back stronger than the first time. The eye was over the island for almost an hour and then the winds came!
IMAGE: BERMUDA WEATHER SERVICE/BRIAN MCNOLDY
I do not know if it was imagined or not but I felt the house shake, I felt sick. Those winds blew so hard I can not even explain it, my husband woke up. I was so scared because I thought the roof would be lifted. I was panicking. The only good thing was that my son slept through it all.I do not know how long those winds blew but it felt like a lifetime. The wooden fence outside was struck down and I am sure my heart skipped a bit. We heard all the trees falling outside. It was just so scary that if I never experience another hurricane I am OK. I wished I could just sleep like my son was doing.
Thankfully no one died as a result of Hurricane Gonzalo. Some people had their houses destroyed, some still do not have power and a lot of vegetation was destroyed. The island looks different. Were it not for God’s grace, it would be a different story