It was one tropical Sunday on the island of Rotuma between Fiji and The Ellice Islands which are now known as Tuvalu. We had walked to another coastal village and I was asked to play a few songs for a bunch of islanders - sitting beneath a breadfruit tree.
It was a happy, carefree afternoon - far from home. Pacific waves crashed upon the rim of the coral reef and coconut palms swayed above the village. Some of the local children danced in laughter.
The island was dreamlike - as though it truly belonged in a work of fiction. What I experienced there, what I saw and felt there have remained with me for the past 53 years. In a sense, it was all quite beyond understanding. It certainly had a big influence upon the character of the man I became.
Anyway, the living island fantasy was battered on October 23rd, 1972 when Hurricane Bebe tracked south from The Ellice Islands. Its eye passed right over Rotuma and I watched houses being torn apart by the raging wind as rain lashed down and the ocean boiled. Incredibly - but only as far as I know - nobody was killed on Rotuma in those terrible twenty four hours.
Wikipedia is amazing. It even has a page for "Cyclone Bebe". For your information, I have copied and pasted the following paragraph:-
During October 23, the system passed over the Fijian Dependency of Rotuma, with hurricane-force wind speeds of around 275 km/h (170 mph) had been recorded on the island. As a result, widespread damage was reported on the island, with various houses and other buildings either destroyed or extensively damaged. The island also lost the majority of its crops, with coconut palms, copra and citrus trees damaged or destroyed. As a result, it was estimated that between 60%-90% of the population would be dependent on relief supplies for the next three to six months.
I have blogged about Bebe before. If you are interested, go here .
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/H2xVPvB
