I left in a bit of a panic a week or so ago, I wanted to bring some closure. Looks like the lounge met its demise so I am writing here. I can close it down later.
The cyclone brought destruction to Mayotte, hitting the most vulnerable in the slums. We are privileged enough to be living in solid homes which barely budged, at least the walls didn’t. My inlaws lost their home, as did a few friends, but they are fine. It is very humbling to see such a powerful display of elements, be subjected to it, albeit protected by four walls. Having no power or running water for a week was also new for me. The village came together beautifully. I lent my starlink antenna to a colleague owner of a power generator, so that every day for the past week we were able to gather, some 100-150 of us, on the village plaza and text family. I tried to access blenderartists a few times but couldn’t load the page. The forest all around was literally blown away, few trees are even left standing. These are the trees I looked at every day for inspiration to make my geonodes tree generator. I guess I will have to work from memory from now on. It lasted barely six hours and it put Man in its place, every single one of us. People are dead and it is already being twisted as a migrant problem, somehow. No politics, I know. It really gives one perspective.
My heart goes out to you - storms are very much a reality where I am as well on the coast, and we’ve had some bad ones over the years. Loss is terrible, no matter how it happens, and I am so sorry for those affected. I am glad to read you here again.
Thank you. I never knew what a storm was before that day, I realize now… it feels surreal and out of place booting up a computer or even turning the lights on !
Glad to hear you are all right and that your local community came together during such a dramatic time.
As for the trees, perhaps you could use something like Google Earth and photos to recreate the memories of your lost forest? There should be enough reference material out there to make sure it isn’t lost to time.
Thanks man, I cannot overstate how good people have been. Yes, I have reference lying around, it won’t really be a problem. It was mostly a way for me to lament about the loss of such a treasured nature… It is a weird thing, because a forest has structure, it is made of innumerable pathways like a very complex town, and it usually evolves slowly. Here I am talking about trees, I feel guilty when I know there are people much, much worse off than I am. But it is my immediate environment, I can not help turning my thoughts to it. Thanks for the kind words
Glad to hear you are allright.
I came through Inhambane after the cyclone in 2007 and wittnessing the destruction in real life is quite something different than seeing it on TV.
I just saw this one killed people in Mozambique as well. I assumed it had died off enough to not hit the coast. Thank you. @Modron thank you for the words.
The idea was to give some news, not dwell on this too much either, so I’ll delete the thread later today. I am glad to be fine, although a little bitter I lost a great excuse to slack off for a bit. heh. Take care, Later,
Crazy mate, glad you and your family are ok. It must have been a nightmare. It’s always heartening to hear of communities banding together and helping each other, even in the aftermath of such a shocking tragedy. It’s was the same here in Spain with the recent tragic flooding in Valencia. The strength and selflessness of the communities coming together to help, despite their own losses and misfortune.
Luckily I’m in the one region out of the 4 neighbouring regions that was unaffected. Although my house is bult up into the side of a rockface in the old part of the town above the main square so it’s essentially floodproof.
But it just goes to show, from your experience, how powerless we are against the full force of nature. All that saved you was the quality of your walls. I can’t even imagine how awful it would be to lose your entire house, let alone family members. I’m sure your in-laws and friends will have lots of help within the community to rebuild.
Praise God you’re ok, Hadrien. And, you’re heart is still in the right place, ha! Must have been comforting to see all those folks come together in the village plaza willing to share what little they could.
In May of 2022 my town, Ottawa, was shredded by a storm of unprecedented magnitude for this region. They say that my property was the worst hit on the street … entire 50’+ tall trees pushed over roots system uprooted still intact fell all around my house. 13 days without water or septic. In the height covid my neighborhood came together as if it were a family. I still praise God that I came through it.
Absolutely ! now that we have electricity back (much quicker than I expected, 65% of the population still don’t have it) I hope that newfound spirit carries over into the old life. We are still gathering at the plaza but there seems to be a decline in attendance. Still, I made a bunch of new friends ! heh. It’s funny that you say “family”- in the village most people are from the same three or four families, just distant cousins (it’s a small island). Yesterday my neighbour told me she hadn’t seen one of them in years, one I hit it off with during these few days.
I had a look at that 2022 storm, frightening. I wouldn’t have seen it with the same eyes just ten days ago, just pixels on a screen,… now I can appreciate better what I’m seeing, the forces you endured.
Thank you. Fortunately we are not mourning anybody but we understand very vividly how close it all came to one of us being… I don’t know, flown off their feet into the ocean, or buried under some rubble. I didn’t know Venezuelan weather could be so hazardous. I suppose construction is done in accordance with reality. Things certainly will change here wrt building, at least I hope so…
Animals of all sorts have been popping up the last few days. A blue (?) gecko I had never seen before. Minuscule rodents scurrying around, suimangas that usually avoid humans landed on my porch. I guess they have somewhat settled in new burrows, new nests by now. Only makis (lemurs) seem to be homeless still, wandering in search of fruits. They took a bunch of bananas from my neighbour yesterday. It’s fine
So, we’re organizing a hale halele night (folk tales around the fire) on saturday night, while people are still accustomed to gathering regularly at the plaza. My friend composed a tale about cyclone Chido. It’s a surprising amount of logistics but there’s a town official helping… tbc
It is good to hear wishes from you as well…! the amount of love is overwhelming, both locally and from this very place. In a way, this forum is… well like a forum. A town square ! I’ll let you guys know how the folk tale night went. Organizing this has been somewhat stressful but I think we’re on top of it now.
It is good to hear wishes from you as well…! the amount of love is overwhelming, both locally and from this very place. In a way, this forum is… well like a forum. A town square ! I’ll let you guys know how the folk tale night went. Organizing this has been somewhat stressful but I think we’re on top of it now.
