Sunrise from our apartment

Saturday, May 28, 2011

May 28 - Super Typhoon Songda



It just seems that natural disasters seem to follow in our wake. After leaving mainland Japan in March in March following the 5th strongest earthquake in recorded history (according to Wikipedia) followed by a tsunami and then nuclear plant meltdown we thought coming to Okinawa would be a nice respite. We should have known typhoon season was just around the corner. Actually typhoon season doesn't even officially start until the 1st week of June. Typhoon Songda was upgraded to Super Typhoon status on May 26th. Elder Arnell and I stayed in all day Saturday awaiting it's arrival but nothing seemed to be happening--not even much rain, just overcast cloudy skies. About 8:00 PM though the wind started picking up but not much rain. By 10:00 PM the windows were rattling and wind was screeching through every opening it could find. We lost electricity soon after that. Almost all of the buildings on Okinawa are built of concrete so they are pretty sturdy. We are currently staying with a military couple on the 4th story of a 7 story apartment building. Other than worrying about the windows blowing out I felt pretty safe. Sunday morning came in bright and cheery. From our apartment window we couldn't see much damage or trees down. When we went to church in the early afternoon though we could see much more damage. At church we found out that more than one military base was still out of electrical power and some had received extensive damage. The Military Branches that were on the 9:00-12:00 time schedule were cancelled and the members were told to go out and try assist with damage control. The afternoon branches (1:00 - 4:00) held Sacrament meeting and then were released to help with the cleanup. As far as I have heard there were no deaths on Okinawa due to this typhoon. All of the missionaries are safe but some are still without electrical power. The phrase that keeps popping up in my head is "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear".

1 comment:

  1. The phrase that keeps coming to MY mind is..."do not delay the day of your repentence!" I think the Lord is sending a message...
    Stay safe, our hurricane weather begins soon here in North Carolina.
    Much love,
    Sister Z

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