Still Here!

Cyclone Oli passed Rurutu last night, there were strong winds, high seas and heavy rain, but we were safely shut in our house, with lovely thick walls between us and the gale. Now this morning the sun is shining and the red alert is lifted, so we've had a drive around to survey the damage, no big disaster to report, thankfully. We've also just been re-connected to the net and to the electric grid......hurrah!

There's a lot of debris to pick up and a lot of flattened banana palms, but it could have been so much worse. There were 6-8m high waves and in places where the reef is close the coast, it must have been quite scary.

(The Tuhaa Pae our cargo ship waits off the coast of Rurutu, in the swell, it's
been 'stuck' at sea since wednesday, not able to return to Tahiti and now
waiting to go to Tubuai to assist if necessary)

On the northeast coast the road was inundated in several places, bringing a lot of rocks and sand with it! The primary school lost its gates, and the police station might also have got some of the worst of it.

But really, no serious injuries to report, so we all feel very relieved today. A lot of the families in our district spent a tense night in a nearby cave, as they always have, in such situations.

So all in all, more fear than damage here in Rurutu, however, Tubuai got a direct hit, with gusts of wind over 200km/h. Again, from first reports, there don't appear to be any major casualties, but the islands electricity pylons have been flattened and there's apparently a lot of trees fallen across the roads. Our hearts and minds now go out to the people of Rapa, awaiting the cyclone.....

We're deeply touched by the messages we've received from friends and guests, from all over the world, in the last few hours. It's wonderful to know that you are out there thinking of us....

(Here we are in our cyclone shelter...the morning after)