Hamish Harrassment

Hamish is harrassing us.
Cyclone Hamish that is. We have about 24 hours to get ready, and it may all be for naught. Though at the moment he is still making a beeline. We didn't have to do too much really. And we still have things to do that I am leaving till a little closer to this evening. So far we have refuelled the cars, filled the spare gas bottle, bought some rope and masking tape, and some tinned fruit. I keep a reasonable stockpile of food so we didn't need to buy food. We have big water containers for camping, so we filled those, so we have 80 litres of water ready. Of course we have 40,000 litres of water in the backyard for toilet flushing etc and laundry if we need to.

We have frozen down all the tuppaware boxes full of water to put in eskies for food storage if we get prolonged power loss. After Cyclone Larry, Innisfail was without power for 2 weeks!

Have put the important papers etc in zip lock bags and we are gathering precious things and putting them on our bed. Then later these will be put in a garbage bag lined suitcase. We have yet to put away the outdoor furniture and fridge and freezer and to pack suitcases for a flee if necessary. The biggest problem with this threat is we are having king tides at the moment and in 24 hours time there is a high tide so we can expect a storm surge, like a tsunami. In 1918 a cyclone hit here and the storm surge followed, and 31 people drowned. We should be above the storm surge level so are not expecting flood.

Three doors down is renovating his house and currently has his roof off and all the tin is lying on the ground beside the house. Most damage is done by flying roofing iron, including deaths.

Later we will criss cross the glass with masking tape and upend the tables across the big panes in the lounge and dining room. Then we will set up some mattresses in the bathroom with an emergency kit so we can sit the storm out in there.
Heavy rain started about a half an hour ago and the wind is picking up.