Cyclone Lam in Arnhem Land
Rebekah Somandin moved to Arnhem Land with husband Pascal and baby Aletheia in January.
Little did they know they would soon face two cyclones.
story Rebekah Somandin
Although I had been through cyclones before, this time was different. In Mareeba I always felt fairly sheltered being inland and up the mountain range, but here we were exposed, right on the coast.
New to Arnhem Land
Two months earlier, my husband Pascal and I, along with our 9 month old baby, moved to Arnhem Land. Pascal was asked to take on the role of Chief Engineer, and although it was hard to pack up and leave Mareeba – our home for the last four years – we began to look forward to what God had planned for us.
We arrived in January, and set about the process of ‘making home’. Soon after, Pascal had to go to Brisbane for training and I was left on my own with our baby for a week. The week after he got back, Cyclone Lam hit Arnhem Land.
Preparations
The weather reports were extremely daunting and by Tuesday 17th February we knew we had to be ready for the worst. Pascal helped secure some of the aircraft into the hangar.
Due to a shortage of housing safe enough to withstand the Category 4 cyclone predicted to pass over us, two MAF families were flown inland to Ramingining. They only had two short hours to prepare their houses, pack their belongings and get their children ready and into the MAF plane.
The following day, as the weather worsened, all 8 families from the communities of Ramingining, Milingimbi, Lake Evella and Elcho Island evacuated in 6 MAF planes to Darwin. The small aircraft were shaken by rough winds and many of the children and parents were sick during the flight.
There was a short meeting at the hangar in Gove, and before we all separated to prepare our homes, we stopped to pray for the Lord’s protection over us all.
I hardly slept that night. The wind howled eerily around our old house and the rain poured down heavier than I’ve ever heard it before. I was so grateful my baby slept soundly!
Cyclone Lam hits Elcho Island
By Thursday the cyclone started to head further west, missing Nhulunbuy and Yirrkala. I was so relieved, and then instantly felt guilty. Although I was spared from the worst of it, the remote communities on Elcho Island were in line to be struck by the storm’s full force.
Cyclone Lam made landfall on Friday. All four MAF bases were affected. Power and communications were down, but sporadically news appeared on Facebook. Despite lots of trees down and damage to power and water, we heard that Milingimbi and Lake Evella were ok.
Then a photo appeared from Ramingining of a huge tree on the house of one of the MAF families that had evacuated!
The news from Elcho was that 6 houses had been completely destroyed and around 50 were damaged, which included a fallen tree on one of the MAF houses, piercing a hole through the roof. Power and water was out for nearly three days on Elcho Island. We praised God that there was no loss of life!
Recovery
Steadily things returned to normal. Cleanup teams were sent to the communities, power and water were restored, families relaxed again after the strain of evacuation. The MAF women gathered together to share their different experiences and encourage and strengthen one another.
Another Cyclone!
But the peace wasn’t to last. After less than 4 weeks, Cyclone Nathan crossed the Queensland Coast, regained intensity and headed straight for Nhulunbuy and the already limping Elcho Island.
Dozens of tents had been erected for all the families who lost their homes on Elcho Island. These had to be torn down as the community took shelter from the second cyclone in a month. All the aircraft were flown in from the communities and secured again in the hangar.
Although only reaching a Category 2, Cyclone Nathan actually frightened me more. It was the closest I’ve been to a cyclone. Power and water went out. Three trees fell around our house, one landed on the roof of our carport. We had almost 300mm of rain in just two days after the cyclone passed.
Prayers and protection
Thankfully it only took 24 hours for power and water to be restored. In some communities there were many large trees down, damaged property and flooding.
We thank God that these two cyclones were not as devastating as they could have been. I am sure it’s because we were covered in so much prayer. It’s so wonderful to be part of the body of Christ at times like this.