Volcanoes and Hurricanes

We headed back to Fogo last week to follow up on the training  with the Elder's Quorums and on the apartment inspections.
The first thing we noticed is that it had rained in Fogo and things were getting green! Whoever named these islands must have arrived just after the rainy season.  Here is the picture of the first night we arrived.

But there was only one problem - it was still raining. It was just on and off but trust me when you are on the only road going around this island - which is part dirt, part cobblestone and hugging cliffs with no guardrails -you are paying attention to just how much it is raining. As we traveled on Saturday to visit apartments and participate in a District meeting with the missionaries in Cova Figueira, the rain wasn't bad.

Note the boulder in the above picture. That was not there the last time we passed through here. Maybe we should have been worried about more than the rain.

By Sunday it was a little worse and made for some interesting interactions as we had to go back and forth between the towns on the east side of the island a few times for training. Here is a picture of us coming up on our first town early Sunday morning.

And here is the view in the town right under the volcano. I was standing by the church when I took it. Those clouds looked eerie.

 There are a few slopes on that side of the island coming down from the volcano that are somewhat dangerous in the rain. They are where the past lava flows have made ditches in the side of the mountain in which the rain water comes down in a rush. (you know - the places I have spoken off in past post where cars have been swept off the road and carried all the way down the slopes into the ocean - true stories.) We came on one such place as the young men of the nearby town were trying to clean off the dirt and rocks that had washed down onto the road. It is a narrow road with a steep drop off on one side and of course with no guard rails. And it doesn't help that the tires of the car spin a bit in the mud as you pass over. We went through it 3 times trying to get back and forth to our different meetings. Obviously the worse had passed by the time we took this picture.

The above picture is an attempt to take a picture of the drop off and the ditch down to the ocean. It isn't a very good one as I am not too keen on hanging my head out the window when the wheels are spinning in mud on the edge of cliffs.
We made it back to the hotel at 6:30 on Sunday night. Long day considering we left at 7:30 that morning. I was ready to relax but no. That is when the rain really hit and it come with some serious wind. This was the scene outside our window  just before it really hit. Looks a lot different than it did the first night we arrived. We couldn't even see Brava or the ocean!

We don't have access to much TV here - nor do most people on these islands - so we didn't realize we were being hit by the beginnings of Hurricane Humberto. Most hurricanes in the Atlantic start with a tropical depression near or around Cape Verde and then move on to more open waters to become a real Hurricane, but Humberto was packing a punch already. We didn't know what it was until we received an email from our sweet Stake President in Kingwood the next morning. The storm stayed with us Sunday and Monday. I must have received 20 phone calls from missionaries all over the south islands complaining about water coming into their apartments - and they were all on upper floor apartments. The rain was coming in from the balconies that have little or no drainage and through the roofs. One apartment on the top floor had standing water in it from the rain was coming through the roof so fast. They only get a few inches of rain a year here so they build their homes and cities accordingly. The roads became ditches in such situations. The water was so powerful on some roads that the dirt under the cobblestones was washed away and the the very stones themselves tumbled down the streets.
We were supposed to leave Monday but our flight was obviously cancelled. The airlines put us up in an hotel. It was actually nicer than the one we we had been staying in so we couldn't complain. We spent the day walking around looking at the mess the rain had made. Here is a picture of it coming through a ravine in downtown Sao Filipe.

 We ran into the missionaries and they said they had been to the ravine too. They told us the people were so fascinated by the water force that some teenage boys threw a small refrigerator off the bridge to see how far the water would take it. Apparently all the way to the ocean.

The next morning they managed to get us home but oh what a ride. Fogo has a very tiny airport, with a very short runway and the wind was howling. You know you are in trouble when you feel turbulence and they haven't even started the engines. That tiny plane shook with every gust of wind. It was a bumpity ride but fortunately it only lasted a little over 20 minutes.  Praia never looked so good!
Those of you who know my fear of winding narrow roads near cliffs and of flying know I would only do this for one cause. It reminded me of the hymn, I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go Dear Lord. Remember the line -  It may not be on the mountain height or over the stormy sea? Well it has been!