Inubia

I for Inubia

It was December and I was promoting a tour as part of a commercial
House group.
This time we were off to Reunion island a beautiful French owned spot
in the South Pacific just one hour flight away from Mauritius.
We were scheduled to stay for five days and to have three club
gigs.
On arrival after an annoying 10 hour flight we were driven across the
Island to its very south tip.
The weather was a tropical dream compared to the wintery temperatures
back in the UK.
The Island looked like an absolute southern French paradise with an
amazing vegetation of palm trees , sugarcane, and various other trees
and colourful flowers.
The hotel was right close to the beach and we were looking forward to a
couple of days off, ahead of us to overcome jet lag and to explore the
Island.
On our second day the weather suddenly changed dramatically.
It was still hot but thick dark clouds spread across the horizon and
were coming towards us.
The news and weather forecast of that day said that a cyclone which had
been sighted 150 kilometres away was heading towards the Island
spinning at a terrifying speed of 250 kilometres per hour.
The centre it was supposed to hit was predicted in the very south of
the Island, exactly where we were.
All flight activity was immediately called off and the government
raised emergency level two, which meant that immediately all public
areas had to be sealed off or closed down.
The cyclone was expected to hit the Island that same night, the
prospects could be disastrous.
People were advised not to use their cars and to stay in their
houses.
I decided to quickly pop outside before anything got worse.
I took my camera with me to document the dramatic changes I began to
witness from the sea and in the sky.
The sky looked like it was in a state of pre-apocalypse, tinted in dark
grey, black, and purple, and the clouds hanging low suffering under
immense weight. For a moment one could have thought that they might
collapse any minute and fall to the earth.
The waves were rocking sky-high against the cliffs which protected the
beach.
I took many pictures when suddenly it started to rain buckets.
The rain would not stop for the next one and a half days.
The sudden rush of the upcoming wind was scary and invigorating at the
same time.
I ran back to the Hotel. Now it was early in the evening.
The news reader called out the highest emergency level and from now on
nobody was to step outside.
Our Hotel was an ugly concrete building that now let down its massive
metal shutters.
We all joined in the hotel lobby for a drink.
All we could do was to wait and see what was going to happen.
There weren't many guests left in the hotel and those who were kind of
made an effort to get friendly with everyone else over our sudden share
of fate.
There was not any hot food left in the hotel so we started eating up
the French cheeses and baguette.
I was far too agitated that night and did not feel like sleeping.
At one point most people had given up and were asleep.
Suddenly I became gripped by fear. Was that it? Does death become you
on a South pacific remote Island? It all sounded pretty unreal.
I quickly phoned up my best friend and my cousin for some support and
to send my love in case...
I peeked out into the dark one last time and was greeted by the trees
which were bending heavily towards me.
I fell asleep soon after, exhausted.
When I woke up the next morning, the light had returned, it still
looked stormy, but to my surprise, no cyclone.
I ran downstairs. All the blinds had been rolled up and the Hotel was
going about its normal business.
I was almost disappointed after all that.
According to the news the cyclone had turned directions at the last
moment and struck on Mauritius.
Harrowing pictures showed the devastation it left to one part of the
Island which had claimed three lives. The Island was completely
unprepared for the storm and had to look forward to many days of repair
and reconstruction.
After the storm had released its grip from our Island, the good weather
returned within half a day.
All of our concerts had been called off and we had a few days left
which we spend with truly exploring the Island with all the beautiful
sides it offered.