Former Strathmore resident experienced Igor first hand
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
In late September Hurricane Igor ripped through Bermuda, and while some visitors were scared and a little shocked,
Heather Meyer found she was more excited than scared. Meyer had traveled to Bermuda to work.
“A friend was in the process of getting a job offshore, and asked me if I would be interested in going with her. We ended up here. I worked with a temp agency first, and then signed on with the law firm from my first assignment,” said Meyer in an email interview.
She and her family moved to Strathmore in 2001. Then she moved to Calgary, before heading off to Bermuda. Meyer said she plans to leave the island and return to Strathmore at the end of November. While she admits to being five per cent scared she said she was 95 per cent excited at the prospect of being in a hurricane.
Bermuda is in the centre of the main hurricane area, and residents are always prepared for the possibility of hurricanes hitting the island. The weather service and the National Hurricane Centre send out preparation lists to residents on the island when they became aware Igor was heading that way.
“At the beginning of hurricane season (June 1st), grocery stores start using shopping bags with preparation lists on them. Luckily, I am living with friends who experienced Fabian (2003) and other smaller hurricanes over the past 12 years; they knew what to expect and how to prepare,” said Meyer. Igor was initially supposed to directly hit Bermuda as a Category 4 hurricane. Then it was forecasted to move slightly east, and then slightly west of where Meyer is staying, and it was downgraded to a Category 3, then a two. It can be hard for forecasters to predict the path of a hurricane or any big storm, because often the course of the storm can change quickly. Meyer said the predictions kept changing slightly right up until it actually hit the island.
“What we did know for sure, was that if it wasn’t a direct hit, it would be within 20 miles, and with the eye being so big, I believe they said 30 miles wide, it would be like a direct hit. The storm itself was approximately 800 miles wide I believe,” said Meyer.
“This was my first hurricane. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, I grew up watching thunder, hail and snowstorms from our attic window. I love storms. I was excited and hoped that Igor would be a direct hit! I am leaving Bermuda in two months, and needed to experience at least one hurricane before I left.”
The anticipation grew, said Meyer, over the week leading up to impact. There were many close calls but they would either dissipate or change course before reaching where she was on the island. She said many people thought forecasters were overreacting until they started hearing it was the biggest storm ever recorded, larger than even Hurricane Fabian which caused major damage in 2003, or Hurricane Katrina. Recovery teams and emergency crews from the U.S were on standby to help rescue people and assess the damage after the storm had passed. Schools opened as emergency shelters and the airport was closed.
This got everyone thinking a little more seriously about it. We started stocking up on canned food, bottled water, snacks and sanitary wipes and of course wine. People in Bermuda have hurricane parties,” said Meyer.
Outdoor furniture was brought inside, boats were secured to the docks and people began boarding up their homes. The office that Meyer works at gave everyone the day off to prepare for the storm. Meyer lives with a photographer and they both wanted to get pictures of the surf so they headed down to the South Shore.
“It was incredible! They had already closed off part of the road due to the waves crashing against the rocks and flooding the road. Signs were put up warning about the dangerous surf. We stood there, with about 50 other crazy spectators, in awe. We took pictures until our cameras were full. Every wave was a little bit bigger and a little bit better.”
On the following Saturday they spent more time preparing for the storm and taking more pictures before the Bermuda Fire Department started sending people back to safety. Meyer and her roommate cooked all of the meat in their freezer so it wouldn’t go bad, and they could still eat it cold. It was forecasted on Saturday that Igor’s closest point was going to hit Sunday evening or Monday morning.
They cranked the air-conditioning to get the house as cold as possible. Because Bermuda is so warm they wanted to keep the cool temperatures as long as possible once the power went out. They charged all of the electronics and filled bathtubs with water, which would be used to flush the toilets and wash with when the power was out. The wind picked up, rain started and the sky got dark. “Sunday afternoon at approximately 1:30 p.m. our cable went off. And about an hour later, the power was gone. Once the power went out, we relied on battery-operated games, board games and flashlights. The first few meals were perishables from the fridge. Food was moved from the fridge to a cooler full of ice so it would last longer,” said Meyer.
As the storm continued into the evening, the wind became stronger. Fortunately the storm had changed to a Category 1 by the time it hit Bermuda.
“Monday morning at approximately 3 a.m., winds woke me up. Trees were bending so far over; they looked like they would snap. Sadly, I couldn’t get any pictures/video of the strongest point due to it being in the middle of the night.”
Monday morning all of the businesses were closed, the wind was still strong and it was still raining. By the afternoon the winds had died down, said Meyer, and the rain had stopped so people gathered outside to assess the damage. There wasn’t any major damage, said Meyer, just a few trees down, property damage including flooding, and several of the boats were beached on the rocks.
Many of the homes did not get power back for a week, but Meyer had hers back by the end of Monday afternoon, and there were crews out cleaning up debris the same afternoon.
“By Tuesday, everyone was back at work talking about how they survived the storm. For the predictions that were given, Bermuda was lucky. It could have been much worse,” said Meyer.