When Cyclone Lam was heading our way we had been
given orders to evacuate and take the planes out of harm's way. The
night before the evacuation David received a call from the local ranger
asking him to help evacuate Mooroonga Island. He
often flies to this community and there was a group of locals and a
teacher out on the community at the time. In the morning he joined
another 2 pilots and made a dawn departure for the isolated community 18
miles north of Milingimbi in the Arafura Sea.
On the flight over they were able to see the front
wall of the cyclone in the distance, and experience some of the wind
that was to come. (For those that are interested: They had a 35 knot
tail wind at 1000ft and on base, which turned into
the cross wind on approach, dropping to 5 knots at the tree line,
making for an exciting and bumpy approach... and take off). Between the 3
planes they were able to get everyone off the island and back to
Milingimbi.
Meanwhile, as the smallest member of our family
opened her eyes, the rest of the team were frantically packing
essentials and valuable items, preparing to leave Milingimbi, unsure of
what kind of damage was about to take place. Shortly
after the guys were back from Mooroonga Island we left for Darwin. (The
wind at 1000ft was 45kts by this time, but smooth). It was a pleasant
flight, in spite of the butterflies in our stomachs as we reflected on
the neighbours and friends who were staying
in the community and buckling down for the night. Little Sadie slept
perfectly as though it was just another day like all the rest. The next
48 hours were rather tense as we caught fragments of information from
the news and occasional updates from friends
on the island, until the winds became so strong that the cell phone
tower was disabled and power lost to most homes. With no more updates we
simply prayed for them all and tried to catch a few snippets of sleep.
We had to trust that they were protected and
safe in God's hands.
On return from Darwin and seeing the devastation
that cyclone Lam had caused in the area we live, we couldn't believe our
eyes, hardly a tree was untouched and many were destroyed. A few days
later David was able to return to Mooroonga
Island with the rangers to inspect the community, and he reported that
there was a lot of damage. He was very glad we were able to get the
people off the island to the relative safety of Milingimbi.
Not long later... After being back in Milingimbi
for a few weeks and having some fine weather to enjoy David was asked to
take one of our planes (MQR) into Darwin for some routine maintenance.
In the days leading up to the departure we
looked at the weather to see another cyclone on the horizon! Cyclone
Nathan. Departing a day early so the storm wouldn't trap us in
Milingimbi we headed for Darwin for a short trip away. We felt like God
has totally covered us with His protection. We were
praying like mad for all those without adequate cyclone shelters and
especially those in the communities already ravaged by Lam that they can
find rest in the Almighty during another storm, as we have in another
way through being miraculously provided with
a second 'evacuation' to Darwin. This time it was a GLORIOUS flight
over. As per usual with the "Calm Before the Storm" we had stunning
scenery and a tail wind of 35 knots also by flying at 6,500ft the air
was lovely cool coming into the plane. We experienced
hardly any bumps, until the end when descending into Darwin through a
sheer layer where the wind changed direction by 180 degrees - and those
bumps were somewhat entertaining, as we got to see Sadie's hilarious
faces with the turbulence. She was a top passenger
and enjoyed her flight. We feel so blessed to get these "scenic
flights" around such a different looking country to our own. We hope
Sadie continues to enjoy flying as she gets older too. Soon we will be
back to Milingimbi again, and waiting to see what the
rest of the wet season has in store for us.
