Waiting for Gonzalo

We’re expecting a category 4 hurricane, named Gonzalo, to hit our island today. In the five years I’ve been in Bermuda, there has not been a storm of this magnitude, although we have had a few tropical storms and one minor hurricane (see my video A Weekend With Igor on YouTube). Interestingly, last weekend we were hit by major tropical storm Fay, which was classified as just shy of a hurricane, but it caused damage akin to that of a hurricane. Massive trees were felled, roof tiles blown off, wires were downed and we lost power. Some people still don’t have power restored from that storm, and we will surely lose power again with Gonzalo. The island has been working at a feverish pitch to clear up the debris from Fay before we are hit with Gonzalo.

It might seem strange, but I find the anticipation of a storm like this invigorating. Of course I’m not looking forward to being shut up in a house darkened by closed storm shutters while the wind howls and bashes around outside. And I’m not looking forward to losing power for several days, taking away phone and Internet, not to mention water (it is pumped to our houses electrically). Nevertheless, there is an energy in the air and a strong sense of community all around the island as residents prepare for the storm.

How do we prepare? We stock up on non-perishable foods. We make sure we have lots of drinking water. We fill our bathtubs and containers with water. We get our camp stoves out, and our candles and flashlights. We nail plywood over vulnerable windows and doors, or tape them, or latch down the storm shutters. We move everything from outside–patio furniture, plants, kayaks–to a safe place where the wind can’t pick them up and blow them about. We stock up on books to read, games to play, and wine. We charge up all our devices. We make sure our friends and neighbours are prepared and help them with anything that needs doing. The lucky ones with generators make sure they have enough fuel to power them.

And then we sit and wait and listen to the wind howl…

But right now it’s a breezy morning and I am going for a walk before I can’t any more. Stay tuned for a post-Gonzalo report.