Day 111 in a Year of my Life

There is a possible cyclone forming East of Brisbane (which is a long way south for a cyclone to form) and they say it will head further south and affect NSW.  They say it is forming the same way that Oswald formed, which scares the 'you know what' out of me.

I know that I'm not alone in this community with this terrible fear, but every time the wind springs up or the rain gets heavy or I hear a loud noise or thunder, or see a weather map showing bad weather anywhere near us, or when I wake up in the middle of the night ... this wave of fear sweeps over me and my heart skips a beat, just like it did 'that' night, because there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

The worst part is not having any power.

Just the power to make an educated and informed decision about whether it's safe to be here - would help.

We didn't have that power on 26th January.

You hear the stories where towns are warned of some natural disaster about to befall them ... like flooding rains or bush fires or a tsunami or whatever, so everybody evacuates ... then it turns out to not be as bad as the warning and people complain about it.

Well, we didn't get any warnings.  All we knew, was that ex-tropical cyclone Oswald was heading this way.  We weren't concerned because we have had many ex-cyclones pass this way and they've never provided anything but heavy rain and gusty winds.

I'm the only one that I know in town, who knew that tornados were possible that night, because I had joined the Sunshine Coast Weather page on facebook and they were putting warnings on facebook every 20 minutes from about 10pm, stating that there was a possibility of tornados moving south from Bundaberg.

Aside from that, the winds from the supposed 'ex'-cyclone were blowing at 125 kms an hour during the night.  Those are already damaging winds, and we weren't warned about them at all.

That's why almost everybody was awake at 3.30am when the tornado hit.

The wind and the rain kept everybody awake, whether they were lying awake in bed or sitting in their lounge rooms or making coffee in their kitchen.

If we had been warned of the seriousness of these dangerous weather conditions, Adoring Husband and I, more than likely, would have headed out of town.  We'd have packed our campervan and loaded ourselves and the dogs into the car and headed out of town until conditions improved.

Adoring Husband and I are not brave when it comes to the wrath of Mother Nature, and after this experience we are even less brave.

The fear grows, and not just for us.  I've seen it in people's eyes, heard it in their voice and relived it in their stories.

I know that this is to be expected.  But it doesn't make it any easier.  I wonder how long it will take to NOT feel afraid of the weather.

Today I am grateful for the fear ... it means I'm alive ... and the story could have been very different except for a few feet.  I am also grateful for your patience while I work my emotional way through the disaster path.

Thank you for listening.

Nite all.