Cyclone Rene.....

Since I am completely oblivious to anything that does not pertain to my everyday life (Samoana + west side of Tutuila), I’m never up on the latest news. (No TV, no radio, and crummy internet will to that to you!) So on Thursday I had no idea that a cyclone was in the Pacific until Taylor sent me a serious sounding warning e-mail. Then during the last period of the day, a note was sent around to each class announcing that there was a severe weather warning and to check the radio before coming to school the next day. Hmm. 

After school I found out that Cyclone Rene was headed for our little island and threatened to bring 90+ mph winds and torrential rains. As I rode the bus towards our Thursday dinner location, I saw that the entire island was boarding up their windows, and everything was shutting down. (But no natural disaster can deter our Thursday festivities!)

During dinner Brandi (our field director) called and announced that the DOE had officially cancelled Friday’s classes. Whoo hooo! Our table of teachers did a celebratory round of high fives and cheers. 

We were very unsure of when the hurricane was going to hit and how bad it was going to be. (And since we don’t have a radio, we stayed in the dark). The storm didn’t come during the day on Friday (but, hey, no school!); however, half way through the day we got word that the storm was headed straight for us, it supposed to hit around 9 pm, and the power would be shut off around 8 pm. 

This led to an entire day of waiting and wondering. The heavier rain and wind started around 9, but nothing ever seemed to get out of control. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of shutters banging but the house wasn’t shaking so I shrugged it off and went back to sleep :) 

On Saturday morning I woke up to quiet. Overall the storm was anti climactic. It turns out that Rene turned and was 70 miles off the coast. Thus, we got some rain and winds (probably 60 mph) but nothing too crazy happened.

This is probably good since a bad hurricane in the 90s demolished much of the island, and school didn’t resume for 2 months. 

Eh, natural disasters are no match for us here on island. Within the past 5 months we have made it through many earthquakes, a tsunami, and a hurricane. Bring it on Mother Nature!