Aftermath

So we woke up this morning to a thunder and lightening storm. When I got on Facebook, there were reports of flooding all around the island. We are so lucky to live on a hill!!! Just in the neighborhood down from us, we had a member's house flood up to their knees! 

 The pic to the right is our church building! From what people are saying, it sounds like the flooding stopped at the other side of the street and the church is ok. 

 

It is a little scary to see random people's pics on Facebook and then all the sudden to see a friends house! In the left pic is where one of my good friend lives! They said the flooding has gone down now. 

 The pic to the right is just down the hill! Probably some of the same flooding that got our ward member's house. 

 

The reports are saying that as the storm turned East, we got stuck under one of the arms for an extended period of time (all night and morning) taking us from 5-7 inches of predicted rain up to 34!!! It also said that yesterday the "strongest winds on Kadena were 74-mph sustained with 101-mph gusts. Closest point of approach was 118½ miles west at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday." (Source).

Logan was supposed to go in today at 11am but all the roads are all flooded that he would have to take so it has been delayed until further notice. So here we are, still on lockdown and they are saying to be patient because the recovery process is going to take a while longer. This makes the 6th day in a row Logan hasn't had to go to work. I'm going to really miss him when he has to go back to a normal work schedule.

Typhoon Tuesday

It has been fun having a four day weekend with Logan and then also getting a bonus day today! Yay for Typhoon Tuesday! Today I slept in (crazy but 7:30 is now considered "sleeping in") and made blueberry muffins. Then I took a 2 hour nap before lunch and showering. We have watched a few movies like Lord of the Rings and The Bourne Legacy as we keep an eye on the storm from our front and back windows. I enjoyed our AC and had fun taking pics (or trying to get good ones) of the storm for you guys.

Another exciting thing is that Logan started his masters program yesterday so he has had that to work on today! He is getting it from AMU in Intelligence Studies - he is so smart! Today I am 23 weeks and 5 days pregnant. So glad I didn't have to go into the Hospital to wait out the storm (they make all the pregger ladies 37+ weeks go in just in case they go into labor). I heard there was more then 70 women there today. Baby bump pic!

I was really worried we would loose power but so far so good. Not every one has been so lucky. I read a report today that "Evacuation advisories were issued to 246,000 homes and 593,000 residents, including the entire populations of Chatan, Kitanakagusuku and Kadena, communities where most off-base military and civilians are located. A total of 96,700 homes remain without power, including 95,300 on Okinawa main island." (http://japan.stripes.com/news/typhoon-08w-neoguri-20-okinawa-enters-tccor-1-e). Saddest news is that there have been 19 injuries and one death.

We are very lucky to live in a very safe place on island. All you can see from around our house is leaves, limbs and branches flying everywhere. I really wish you could see it in the pic but all the greenery just looks like grass.... What I can say is that this morning you couldn't see any sky through the trees but as the day has progressed the gaps are getting bigger and bigger and our lawn is filling up with more and more debris.

Here is a vid I shot from upstairs earlier today:

 

With modern technology (FB) I have been able to keep up with all the going ons here on island. For instance, we were told that the whole island is now under a tornado warning. This is because the eye of the storm is passing and the wind is shifting from the East to the West.

 I have also pulled some pics from Face Book that others have posted of the damage for you to see.

(To the right: This is a restaurant in Naha that collapsed. It is crazy how it looks like it just unwrapped like a burrito and the roof is now in the street!)

So it did turn out to be a pretty crazy storm even though we never saw much. But sometimes that is a good thing. We enjoyed our lazy day and are so grateful to have been kept safe because of all the prayers in our behalf. The typhoon is still raging but I think we have seen the worst of it. 

Typhoon Neoguri

Look what is on it's way! It is forecasted to get here early Tuesday. It was first going to be a cat 2 and then yesterday they said cat 4 when it passes us. Now they are saying it will be a 5! and the right front quadrant is going right over us- which is the most damaging part of the storm because of the wind. 

We spent today prepping. We have snacks, food if the power goes out, lots of water and most importantly battery operated fans! We lost power just last week for 3 hours from 1am to 3:45. I woke up about 10 minutes after it went out because I was already sweating! It really is that hot and humid! I mean, today we had a heat index of 108! I couldn't find any bigger fans that run on batteries so the 3 I got from the 100 yen store will have to do! Better then nothing! 

If you look at the pic above, I live in the little square labeled Okinawa and you can see the path going right over us! Very exciting. I'm grateful during these times that I live in a cement bunker on a hill. 

If you want to check up on how it is tracking real time, you can go to this site (http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/) and to the left click on "Neoguri" under the Tropical Storm Tracker section. 

Morning Walks

Hey! Let's go for a walk. Put on your tennis shoes because it is going to be a little over a mile. You might also want a hat and some sunglasses because even this early in the morning it is HOT out there (with the heat index its already 98)!

Ok! Baby and me are ready! First as we go out the door and down the steps you get to pass our pet spider and the cool bush that bloomed this week.

Just around the corner from the building to our left is the little park that I will be taking Connor to when we get bored of being inside. 

We passed a few more buildings and now we are starting to go down the hill. Over to our right is a nice view of the ocean. It is easier to see then it looks through the camera. You can also see some of the flight line and tower. 

One thing we have a ton of are snails! And they come in all sizes. This unfortunate one got caught in the concrete gutter and perished under the sun but you can really see how big they can get! 

Still going down the hill. This is actually right around where I fell on Jan 1st and messed up my hand. It took about 4 months to heal all the way but I don't have any issues with it now, thank goodness. 

The cicadas are in full season and you can hear it! 

I think it is funny that several times I have seen some people on island post pics on FB of their exoskeletons wondering what in the world they are! They are also extra huge! I wish the dead one in the second pic still had all of its wings. We have seen some flying around that are almost the size of hummingbirds. 

Made it to the bottom of the hill now and are walking around the back side of my neighborhood. Behind my house, there is just forest that you can see. 

And here is my baby bump again! Because I honestly can't go more then 10 minutes without looking at it! Yesterday I saw it move for the first time when baby kicked and then spent like 20 minutes unsuccessfully trying to catch it moving on video. haha. To others it still looks barely there (and they tell me so) but from my view it is really growing! 

 So this is the long straight part of the walk not much to see until you get to the end and the hill curves down a bit just enough that you can see the new LDS church building that I go to! It is just across the street from the base perimeter fence.

We have now made it back to the other end of the street I live on. Here is the bottom of Rolling Heights.

I love the little reminders that I live on a semi-tropical island like palm trees in front of all the houses and blooming hibiscus bushes. 

Going back up the other side of the hill. I like living up on the hill but you always have to go back up to get home. You can also see a little strip of ocean on this side but again it is hard to tell.

 Ok. This hill is getting long. Lets stop for just a sec. Nothing really to take a picture of here but my shadow. Can't see my bump from this angel but I'm glad to still have a bit of a waist.

Let's keep going. Oh, look! A caterpillar! They have been all over lately too! 

On the final stretch up the hill. You can now see the 4 buildings that make up my little circle of the neighborhood. For some reason I think the big retaining wall looks pretty cool.

We made it back home! Time to get some cold water and play on the computer until I cool down!