And Hurricane Fiona hits Sydney. . .

 As predicted, Fiona hits Sydney in the overnight between September 23-24.  The intensity of the incoming storm builds throughout the night, and we hear objects being thrown about and striking our apartment - not the glass, thankfully.  We have a shed in the back on skids, not a foundation, and I think there's a good likelihood it will be completely blown away or destroyed, so we remove all the items in it and bring them inside our apartment.  In spite of all the noise and chaos, Sister Johnson and I sleep through most of it, though we do waken occasionally when it really gets loud.  I'd guess the seasonal winds in Farmington have prepped us for this type of experience, but it's never been this bad.  The power goes out at 5am on Saturday the 24th, and we're completely in the dark.

The shrieking winds continue through Saturday, and into the evening.  There's not much we can do except hunker down and ride it out.  So far our house is intact, but we have plenty to eat and the temperatures are moderate - which is a huge blessing - so we're not cold.  When we get a peek outside, we can see that trees and power lines are down.  We realize that our activity is really governed by daylight and what we can see inside and out, though we do have good flashlights.  We have lost communications and internet along with the power.  We do have intermittent cell service.  In anticipation of the storm and the likely inability to travel safely, Church services for Sunday have been cancelled.  We didn't even try to set up a Zoom meeting, as internet and comms are down. As we go to bed on Saturday evening, the storm is noticeably diminishing.

When we awake Sunday morning, we see that trees and power lines are down, and there has been some damage to buildings in our neighborhood.  Our place seems to have come through relatively unscathed, though we do find out later that some roof shingles were ripped off.  Surprisingly, the shed is in the same position, hasn't moved at all.  But there has been plenty of damage and chaos.  I could have included a lot more pictures, but these pretty much convey the type of destruction caused by Hurricane Fiona:












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