Because I am so organized (/sarcasm), I already had my post lined up with the recap of the past two weeks, but on Friday night we were hit by a big storm. It had been a really hot and heavy week, the poor guys working on the land development tracing the plots were exhausted and sunburned, and we were all looking forward to the weekend. We had a swim around sunset, and the wind started to blow, so instead of drying our clothes on the deck we left them in the hammocks and went back to the house. It started blowing some more, so I went down to the deck to pick up the clothes, and the hammocks were bouncing heavily, all the clothes had been thrown into the water.
It was already dark, so I went into the water but could only gather part of the clothes and a towel, and thought I would pick up the rest in the morning. But after 20 minutes of more heavy winds, BF went down to the deck to check on the boat, and found it dangerously bouncing, threatening to break the deck we had just fixed. That is the boat before, with its lovely wooden seats and coffer.
He screamed to me to get down there and help him get the boat onto the land, but it was too late, the boat was full of water and really heavy, after diving both into the water with big wages, we set it free from its ropes and barely managed to get it a little more towards the land. This is how we found it in the morning.
This in front of the boat is a seat that was washed by the lake. We couldn’t take off the motor because it was screwed in.
and we could only save the gas tank at night, the rest of the wood was also washed by the water. In the morning we woke up early to gather what was nearby, managed to find a few clothes, the motor oil bottles and some wood, but we are still missing many things. Thankfully BF’s fishing box was intact, just filled with water, and his cane was stored safely.
On the deck we un-hung the hammocks but a few things were broken too.
While we were in the water trying to get the boat back to land, the power ran out. It took 24 hours to get it back, and we will have to eat like giants this week to try and not waste food that was thawed during the power cut.
In the morning we did an inspection of the roof terrace, it was filled with water and some of the plastic roof had been uprooted by the wind.
We had also planted some new trees, and palm trees we brought over from the land development, not sure they will survive.
One of the big trees at the back of the house broke as well, thankfully it didn’t touch the roof
Our neighbor now has a bare land and this accelerated the wind from behind and helped break our tree.
The little house we took so long to fix up lost three panes of its plastic roof, which was really impressive.
But those plastic tiles are very strong and on Saturday morning with the help of the land workers who came over we were able to put it back into shape and attach it to the roof again.
It had been raining in the kitchen all night, and another part in one of the bedroom was open also, so we have a wet mattress and a disgusting house to tackle.
All in all, it will take a few more hours to fix the garden and the boat, but it was more of a big scare than anything. We slept like babies in the new room, by the way. The wind kept the night heavenly cool and the sturdy construction was not a concern.
It was weird and unexpected because this is not a hurricane zone, unlike Belize or the Caribbean coast, and even weirder was that nearly no damage happened in the village. One guy lost his roof and that was about it. It looks like we were at a junction of strong opposite winds, and it created a mini tornado just for us. Nice way to start the week!
In case you wonder, of course, we don’t have home insurance, but the financial damages aren’t too important.
As usual, when sh*t happens, I try to find three good things about it:
1. No animal was hurt. Three chicks, the ducks, geese and turkeys sleep outside, but it looks like everyone found a safe place to spend the night.
2. In a week or so, I am leaving for Europe and BF to the capital city, it would have been much worse if we weren’t there. We have built a room for the handyman to sleep there in our absence but by himself I doubt he would have done much.
3. We managed to save the deck. Had the boat kept on banging against it, it could have collapsed, and there is a lot of work in there, plus the cost of the thatched roof and wood to build it up again, it would have been a nightmare.
This week the architect is coming to formally draft the plots and we have a ton of work, so by the time you read this we will have spent the whole weekend cleaning to be ready.
The most important after the heavy rain and strong wind, you and your BF including your poultry are safe. Hope you are okay now.
Based on my experience, rate of progress is lesser if nobody will supervise the works.
thanks Walt, we are ok now. We have a pretty good worker we hope will motivate the others but also don’t expect things to be as when we are on top all the time.
Wow, sorry to hear about the storm. I’m glad to hear that you and BF are okay. hopefully things will end up better than they look.
thank you Justin, it is almost back to normal today.
I’m sorry about your storm damages. I hope that you don’t have go out and buy a new mattress and replace a lot of other stuff due to storm damage.
thank you. The policy around here is make do with what is there, and so far we have fixed everything, mainly the roof. The mattress will dry. The clothes since we have few here are annoying to have lost but we are each going back to our hometowns next week and can bring some more.
That is some extreme storm! The main thing is that you guys are uninjured, everything else can be either fixed or replaced.
exactly. And it was big enough so we pay attention and be prepared if there is a next time.
“the wind started to blog” – you’ve really turned everyone down there into a blogger, huh!
While storms are definitely not fun, I’m glad that everyone is okay (animals included) and that the repairs look straightforward enough.
the answer my friend, is blogging in the wind… thanks for pointing that out! and right after that “drying or clothes” was pretty bad too!
Wow, so sorry to see all the damage, but glad you and your BF are ok. It sounds like you have a good attitude about it and glad it happened when it did…otherwise it could’ve been much worse if you were not there.
I can’t imagine the zero initiative handyman trying to handle a storm on his own… glad it happened on Friday.
Oh my goodness, what a mess! I am glad you are safe, but when I see these pictures and compare them to others I have commented on…what a huge bummer! I’m sorry that happened, Pauline!
thank you Tony, it is almost all good now, but it was a good scare!
Glad you all are safe! I’ll blame the neighbor too! It’s also good to know the additional space doubles as a tornado/bomb shelter!
Just when you thought you could move on to a another project… life is like that sometimes. We had a large amount of rain here this last week and right as my parents were leaving to go visit my sister for a baby shower (which just turned into a baby delivery YAY!) their sump pump went out in the basement. So my dad spent his morning going back and forth to the hardware store installing a new once, twice, since the first one was defective.
Congratulations on the baby! That is amazing news, especially since everyone was around for the shower anyway, that kid knows how to make an entrance! You would be amazed to see that this morning is like nothing happened, except for the tree and the boat. We had 5 guys working all Saturday, and they are like ants, it is impressive how was and diligently they fixed most of it.
Sorry to hear about the storm, that does not look like a fun experience :/ I hope you are able to get everything fixed up and repaired before you leave for your trip to Europe. I’m glad everyone was safe, though!
It is all fixed but the boat and removing the trees, at least the house is dry and the roof is back on, which is the most important.
That stinks about the storm. Seems like there’s been a lot of crazy weather everywhere in the world lately.
It was weird indeed since it is not a hurricane region but like Sandy in the US, seems like you can’t predict anything those days.
Glad you made it through the storm okay! Clean-up is never fun, especially when you’re gearing up for your vacation. I do like how you think of 3 good things when bad stuff happens. Not always easy to do, but definitely helps you keep perspective.
yes, it could always be worse, so better keep positive!
Wind is like the hidden enemy of weather. You kind of expect bad things from lightning or snow and ice, but wind can do far worse damage, and it’s so random. When our trampoline blew away, it hopped over 2 fences before it took out a third. Why on earth? Then nothing else was blown around or damaged even though there were many things lighter than the trampoline that could have taken off. I’m glad everyone was OK and you’ll be able to rebuilt without too much touble. Hopefull that was your one fluke storm of the year.
haha same here, some trees that were already leaning heavily didn’t move while a nice straight one was broken in two. Go figure. I certainly earned a new respect for the wind.
Oh wow what a crazy storm that must have been. I’m glad you were able to fix the roof and that there wasn’t too much damage. Rain and wind are so powerful, especially when combined. That is good you were there when it happened so you could start working on fixing things. I’m glad you and the animals are all ok!
Thank you Sydney! It was great to be there, no wondering “what if” and you can act straight away.
Sorry to hear about the storm Pauline. Stuff like this happens, but as you said, no one got hurt and you didn’t lose any animals. All the things lost are replaceable. I hope you have a better week this week.
Yikes rough week! Reminds me of my few years in Vanuatu – we missed flying to the US on holiday due a cyclone. Got there the next day, not without missing a LA Lakers game though 🙁 Glad you can see the positives though.
You are brave! I would never have flown right after a storm, too scared!
Wow…what an intense storm! It’s a real challenge to stay positive when stuff like this happens. But as you said life happens and we can either become really bitter about it or choose to find the silver lining. Glad you are OK and hope the repairs go well.
Thank you Brian, yes it is mostly back to normal now. Another good way to see the silver lining is thinking “will I laugh or cry about it in a month/year/10 years” what seems really intense today is just another minor bump on the road 99% of the time.
Oh my goodness, Pauline. I’m so glad you guys are ok, and that the animals all survived too. Looks like it was a terrible storm!
thanks Laurie, it was more impressive to be there than what it actually was, so it’s all fine now
Wow, glad to hear you are all ok. Sad to hear of all the damage. Is there not a way to build the home so if this were to happen again it’s not raining in the house? I hope you get it all sorted mate but smart to think of the positives. Cheers
the plastic tiles got uprooted because a strong wind came inside the house, through the windows. we don’t have glass windows, just mosquito nets, so putting real windows or something to close those nets when a storm threatens would prevent the wind from coming in. It was just not on the priority list.
Wow, that storm looked intense! I’m glad that no one was hurt and the animals were okay. You can hopefully replant some of those trees and repair the damage slowly.
thanks CF, we have almost cleaned the garden, but those trees were a few years old so not sure we get some new ones that big.
What a hassle for you two, but a well told story. Glad you could find some positives out of the mess. It reminds me of being in Houston for Hurricane Ike. What a breezy night that was. No animals to look for in the morning, however.
I can imagine! The good thing is we aren’t too dependent on cars, going somewhere, or a supermarket so we could have stayed like this a few days.
Ah, the joys of living in a tropical environment, eh? We had 2 feet of snow last week and then it snowed again today!
wow, it looks so close on the map. Does that mean you are out of work again?
Well, I was able to work yesterday, thanks to a water line break. But sitting hinge in my pj’s today. Tomorrow is supposed to get into the upper 60 (that would be the upper teens for you celsius folk), so it should melt off pretty quickly.
Wow that’s so scary, I’m glad you guys are OK. Natural disasters are something I take pretty seriously post-hurricane sandy.
I imagine, since you don’t live in a zone where you have learned to expect that stuff, when it takes you by surprise it is worse!
That sounds like a crazy storm! I’m glad you’re ok! And I really love the 3 positive things habit that you have.
Thank you Marissa! yes it is nice to keep perspective, I also wonder if I will laugh at things in a week/month/year and if so it is not worth getting all worked up.
I am so sorry to hear about that storm!