Typhoon Bavi

 <Still on cellular data, so I cannot upload pics.  Someday...>

Typhoon Bavi came and went.  It was quite a storm.  My hunkering began about noon on Saturday, July 4^th. Not so much because of the weather, but I really just didn’t feel good.  I knew that I needed to be fully rested to battle the water that was about to come my way.  When I landed, I hit the ground running. Never had any jet lag that way.  But my body was tired. It came to the islands tired. And I fear I was getting really sick. (Thankfully, in the end I think it was the island mold + tired. Not Guam Flu.)

It rained a little on Saturday, but nothing crazy.  Sunday morning was again scattered showers that would come and go. Church was cancelled more so people could make final preparations over safety concerns.  Most people work 6 days a week in this culture. So they really needed time to finish boarding, etc.  The government had asked everyone to be in their safe spots by sunset.  And by sunset it was getting a little windy.  But I’m from Oklahoma, and it needs to be a lot windy for me to care or notice.

I shared about the shutters falling the previous blog.  

After that blog post. Things got noisy and stayed noisy for the next 24 hours. 

All through the night was bang, bang, bang.  Shutters and boards beat against the windows from the wind. I would get up to check for flooding and was happy to not find any….yet.  My watch showed 3:40 of sleep that night.

Finally, I just got up and continued doing as much computer stuff as I could.  Everyone I knew on Saipan and Guam had lost power except for me, so I knew it was a matter of time.  I was thankful to have more cup of coffee…and one more hot meal…

When the winds shifted, here came the rain. I used every single towel the house had to soak up water…and the mop.  It mostly just came in three spots which helped. Once the power went out, I read a book.  There were two fiction books at the church and parsonage. Amish books. I figured that was fitting as that’s how I was about to live!

But Monday night the banging subsided.  I slept on the couch because I could open the doors for air.  (The windows had shutters....or "shutters" I should say.) The doors have locking metal screens so I figured I was safe enough...and seriously, we were still in the middle of the typhoon. Who was going to be kidnapping in that kind of weather?

I slept over 9 hours.  On the couch. I was tired.

And there you have it folks.  I survived the great Typhoon Bavi 2026.