THE NIGHT OF THE GREAT WIND

Last night on Foxtel on UK TV, they showed the episode of the Vicar of Dibley where the members of the Dibley Parish Council argue over their memories of events in the village such as "The Night of the Great Storm", "The Night of the Great Freeze", "The Great Frost" etc. The discussion has been sparked by the stormy weather, and in the morning, the stained glass window has been destroyed by a tree falling through it.

Now our weather Bureau had warned us to expect some pretty high winds here on the island last night, and we certainly got them.

By this morning, the news was buzzing round about the damage from some of the gusts, which, I believe, reached incredible velocities. There were trees uprooted, rooves lost, windows blown in, roads blocked.

We received the news that an enormous old Norfolk pine had been uprooted at Crest Holiday Apartments, which belong to Bernie's brother. It had fallen right on top of the building housing their Office/Reception and Transit Lounge. We headed round to see the damage and offer support.

No doubt insurance will pay for the re-building, but in the meantime, business must go on! They have been able to recover the computer box, but the booking register lies open, weighed down by a large branch. It may be some time before they can access the filing cabinet. The wind is still blowing strongly there, and the building, as you can see, is pretty unstable.

John and Jonathon look in through the office window.

And this is the view outside looking in!!

Len and Helen are away, and will no doubt be devastated by the news. However, Joanne and Glen and Bing have things well in hand for the clean-up operation, and they will get plenty of help.

Down in the grounds of Government House, another magnificent old pine had also been uprooted, but fortunately fell so there was no damage to buildings or fences, and even very little damage to other trees!

During the week, there had been enormous seas at Kingston, and the waves had washed right up to some of the convict buildings.

At Middle Beach, a new fence had been washed away ......

and the water reached right down into the old Lime Kiln picnic area!

The wind was still blowing strongly from the south-west, as you can see by these bending pines.

The surf was still pretty wild.

But when we went to see if there was any damage out at Simon's Water, on the other side of the island,it was calm as a Mill Pond!

Back at home here at "Devon" it was a very noisy night, with garage doors banging in the wind. A few branches had come down around the woodland.

Unfortunately we lost a one of the lower branches of our very productive paw-paw. The fruit that is right up high, and is very hard to reach, is hanging on bravely, but the easily accessible ones will now end up as pig food. But I will save one to steam as a vegetable.