Our thoughts and prayers for Jim and his family as they contend with the pending Cyclone bearing down on Fiji with winds to reach 150 mph!
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Ditto.
Jim....Hunker Down !! I hope you threw down fish nets over your palapa/palm roofs!!!!
Good Luck !!!!
From someone who has been that in Baja Ca. Mex......................Bruce
Saw video this morning. Winds up to 180MPH!
In my first hurricane experience in Baja a few years ago I got the bright idea to get on my ATV in my swimming trunks and go cruise around in the wind and rain. The rain was really coming down and the 80 to 100 mph gusts made it feel like I was getting sandblasted so I went home and put on a sweatshirt. I also had to wear a diving mask and snorkel so I could see and breath. The wind blew the rain sideways and right up my nose or open mouth so the mask and snorkel really helped.
As I was out "sightseeing" on the ATV I was in a diagonal cross wind and got blown up on two wheels so I turned around to go home again. Now the trail was blocked by a palm tree the had blown over and I had to detour thru a field full of water to get around the palm. The water was almost up to the carb and spark plug but I got thru. When I got home and dried out I just happened to look out the window and see a piece of corrugated sheet metal roofing sail by. Sounded like a fun thing to do but won't ever do it again................Bruce
Yup, and coconuts make great projectiles in 100+mph wind...
Bruce, I don't know you at all, so please forgive me, BUT, you are (or at least were) out of your freakin' mind.
I am also concerned not to hear from Jim. Saw the reports and 160 mph winds. Holy shyt, Batman, that is serious. Hope Jim reports in soon. That he hasn't is understandable. Things must be in wild disarray down there.
Makes me wish I was into HAM radio. He may have no working communications or even power. Fingers crossed.
Fortunately for Jim and his family, his career and training as a firefighter may give him the tools to deal with the destruction in Fiji.
All we can do here is to keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.
Art
Frazoo...I was just thoughtless and stupid. I really hope Jim is OK. The odds are that he is. Taveuni is a good island to be on. It has a steep shoreline so the ocean won't be so intrusive with the wind. My guess is that power and communications are out right now so we won't hear from him for a while. The storm has already passed at the last info I read so I'm sure clean-up is now in progress. Roads will be washed out, power lines down and communications. I'm sure we'll hear from him soon as these are up again.
Bruce
I'm sure checking in on the SOC is the farthest thing on his mind. When Kauai got hit by Iniki it took me a month to get a phone call back home...
Praying that Jim K. and his loved ones are all ok and recovering from the Cyclone.
Tom L
Anyone hear from Jim?
Assume it will be awhile....
Yes, it will be a while...
It's been a while. A very nervous interlude...Sort of like sitting on pins and needles waiting for news from Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec '41
Has anyone heard from Jim Kelly?
Carl, thanks for the memory bump. I just sent an email to Jim's email address at the resort. Not sure if they have power, much less internet.
Art
I know how you feel, Carl, but give a little more time. These huge storms wipe out everything needed for modern life and it takes a while to put work-arounds in place to get just to the basic needs level. In the meantime, you can easily read about what's going on via their local paper, here:
http://www.fijitimes.com/section.aspx?s=local
Jim's resort web site is up, but that could be hosted on a server anywhere in the World so that's no indication of what's going on there. Check out the Fiji Times from time to time to see what's really going on there (the wonder of the Internet at it's finest!) and we can all hope to hear from him sometime in March. This may take a while and I'm sure that the SOC is kinda down there on his list right now.
We're all watching and waiting, too.
Just got this message from Jim this morning;
No injuries to family, friends, or staff, so the big things are all good. Some damage to the resort from falling trees and water damage. I estimate we'll be up and running in a month. We've been involved with buying and distributing food to the villages that were hardest hit. You don't have to look far to find someone worse off than you are. Life's an adventure, eh? Thanks for checking in on us. Best regards, Jim
Thanks for the update, Rich.
Glad to hear people are ok in Jim's resort and limited to some property damage only.
Tom L
When you see this, Jim; glad to hear you guys are ok.
Whew! Mostly good, huh? Reading the articles and letters in the Fiji times certainly gives one cause for concern.
Thanks, Rich...
Glad your family and staff are safe and able to help others.
Excellent. Most excellent.
Thanks, Rich.