We hear there's a hurricane a comin'

The week of September 18, we start to hear there is a tropical storm building in the Caribbean.  Over the next few days it strengthens into a Category 3 hurricane, gets the name Fiona, takes a swipe at Bermuda, and heads nearly straight north up the Atlantic ocean, with Nova Scotia directly in her path.  We start our preparations for the storm to hit.  The following is from a presentation I put together to describe the experience to our senior missionaries and the Mission President:



Early in the week of September 18, a tropical storm is building into a hurricane.  It is named Fiona, and heads northeast in the Atlantic, clipping Cuba and Bermuda as it heads straight for Nova Scotia.



Fiona builds to a Category 3 Hurricane, with winds topping 215 km/hr or 133 mi/hr.  It has Nova Scotia, particularly Cape Breton directly in its path.  We watch the storm track daily, and if it shifts, it only gets Sydney more directly in its crosshairs.  It is scheduled to hit overnight, between Sept 23-24.  It looks like Prince Edward Island is going to get hit as well, also western Newfoundland.



As Fiona approaches, the winds are diminishing a bit, but will hit us with winds 105-120 mph.  One thing that's in our favor is the "eye" of the hurricane is opening up into a wider area, indicating it's starting to diminish in ferocity.



President Harkness calls a Zoom meeting for all missionaries in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland, giving advice and direction on what to prepare for, what to expect, and what to do after.  We already have these items taken care of in our planning.  We are alone in Sydney, the Burch's are alone in Corner Brook, NL.  The other senior couples have young missionaries to look after.



We stock up with extra food, and cram all perishables into the refrigerator.  Sister Johnson also has clean empty 2 liter bottles that orange juice came in.  We fill these 3/4 with water and freeze them, anticipating that power will be out for several days.


During one of our runs to the market, we score a can of Spam.  We figure as long as we have this, we won't starve.  Or maybe we would starve rather than eat it??



Since neither of us have been through a hurricane before, we don't know exactly what to expect, but I decide it's a good idea to crosshatch our exterior windows with duct tape, which may give them a little more resistance to any flying debris, or at least help prevent flying glass from crashing into our apartment.



Last-minute preparations we make include putting a foam mattress pad against our sliding glass door and pushing the refrigerator up against it.  We also fill our bathtub up with water so we have something to flush toilets with.  We also do the same with the baptismal font at the Church, in case that is needed for shelter.  And the very last thing is to top the Touareg tank up with diesel, who knows how long it may be when we can get fuel again?



On the last run to Canadian Tire to grab some duct tape for the windows, I score a bag of poutine-flavored chips.  Now we're all set and can ride out the hurricane with tasty snacks.



The morning of Friday, 23 September begins with a beautiful sunrise and almost eerie calm.  Just from observing, there's no way to see that a major hurricane is only hours away.


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