5 a.m. – Monday, February 12
Weather Forecast – 5 a.m. Monday, February 12:
“Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita is forecast to hit Tonga with up to Category 4 force winds from tomorrow morning, Monday February 12 according to the latest forecast from the Nadi Torpical Cyclone Centre in Fiji. A Category Cyclone 4 has mean winds 86-107 knots and is extremely destructive close to the centre. The centre is expected to track close to Tongatapu Monday morning. Tongans are handicapped in their preparations for the storm as strict sabbatical laws prevent Sunday trading for emergency supplies. At 4:30 pm Sunday, the capital, Nuku’alofa remained quiet and sleepy. Tonga Met officers said this afternoon that if the cyclone speeds up from its present slow moving approach it might arrive earlier. A hurricane warning remains in place for most of Tonga. The WeatherWatch New Zealand says that Tonga should be on high alert until the storm passes on Tuesday morning.”
Post from Eua:
The cyclone looks like it is heading straight for Nuku’alofa, and is a category 4 storm. Right now, in Eua, it is calm, and there are stars in the sky. (But we are on the west coast, and the storm is coming from the east.) There is no wind.
Mom is schedule to fly out at 9 a.m. this morning from Eua to Tonga. There was only one seat open on the flight. We are going to see if a second seat opens up, assuming the flight has not been cancelled.
This is the “terminal” in Eua.
The ferries left early, yesterday at noon. A day early because of the impending storm. Bummer. (They were supposed to leave today, and I was getting in the car to go to the ferry terminal to see if we could get on, when we heard the news they had just left).
We have become friends with the stake president (there is one stake in Eua) and he has arranged for mom’s flight. I am thinking that the plane will go, because it does not appear to be stormy at the moment. Unfortunately, the forecasts call for category 4 force winds later in the day today (Monday).
Our plan is that as soon as mom takes off, the S.P. and I are going to take a fishing boat from Eua to Tonga, depending upon how the weather is. There is a break in the reef on the eastern side of Tongatapu (about 10 miles closer to Eua than Nuku’alofa) – if you have a map, it is at Oheoli, by the Hina Cave. He says we can get there in an hour (it is a fast boat).
If the seas are rough, or the wind is high, we will not go. In that case, I would just hunker down here and see what develops. If I need to ride out the storm, I will go to the stake center at the top of the island. The resort where we are staying has small wooden fales that are pretty close to the beach. But I don’t know how rough the sea will be here, since we are on the western side of the island. But if it comes down to it, I will not take any chances, of course.
(Just in case you were wondering, this is NOT the plane that flies between Eua and Tongatapu.)
THIS is the plane – it wouldn’t do well in high wind.
The church buildings in Tonga are the safest structures on the island, and the government uses their building code as the gold standard for cyclone shelters. (I say that, realizing that the government doesn’t actually have any cyclone shelters – they just rely upon the church, in emergencies).
If I need to stay here, I will probably not have internet, and don’t know about cell phone service. I that case, I probably wouldn’t be able to check in with any reliability or regularity. But, aside from being stuck on Eua for who knows how long, I should be okay.
I am keeping my dental supplies with me (mom will take only a small carry-on bag) so if I am here for a while, I can work in the hospital clinic, in the meantime.
By the way, if Mom doesn’t make the flight for some reason, we will call you. In the morning, in just a few hours, we should still have cell phone service. So don’t try to call us – we can easily call you.
The news reported that Tonga is relatively unprepared for the cyclone, as the Sabbath day laws prohibit stores from being open. So no-one has stocked up. I couldn’t say for sure what is happening at Nuku’alofa on Tongatapu, although I heard that it’s just its normal sleepy atmosphere. Here on Eua, we have been told that there will always be rainwater to drink, and the bush and the sea will provide food, if commerce is disrupted.
It won’t be as it is elsewhere, where starvation is just one container ship away. But………..transportation could be disrupted, and that is a concern, because right now the Tonga Trench is looking pretty menacing and deep. Frustratingly, I can see the lights twinkling on Tongatapu, just 20 km or so away.
Considering how many homes were destroyed in Samoa (and it was a Category 2, then), we are really worried about Tonga, because the quality of construction of homes all across the kingdom is very poor. There are NO building codes, and most homes have sheet metal sides and roofs, haphazardly tacked together. At least there are no front doors, so the wind might just blow right on through.
There could be flooding on Tongatapu, and on Ha’apai, because they are pretty flat. Vava’u and Eua have hills and mountains – flooding here should not be a problem.
Come to think if it, if I do ride out the storm here, and airline/ferry service are suspended, I could always take the fishing boat to Tonga, if it survived the storm, and wasn’t needed elsewhere. We’ll just have to wait and see what develops.
This is the door to our row of seats. Hopefully, we’ll be boarding soon.
Anyway, to sum up, we will find out in just a few hours how bad the storm is, and what our options are about getting off the island and back to Tonga. We’ll keep you posted.
The captain’s pre-flight instructions.
The fishing boat could be quite an adventure – I am remembering Patrick taking the wave runner out on the lake during a storm. This could be the same, except it’s 20 km from shore to shore and it’s 35,000 feet deep. No wading ashore. (By the way – if you were thinking about the reliability of the motor, or the seaworthiness of the boat, President Ma’u assures me that he has done this many times.) 🙂
XOX DAD J
Phil and Jan's Adventure in Tonga 