Olaf is the second hurricane to reach “worrisome” status for us. The first was Nora – who veered towards the mainland at the last moment, and left Baja with some rain and not much else. Olaf was considered a non-event, until the last moment when it intensified to a category 2 hurricane and made landfall near Todos Santos – north of Cabo San Lucas, on the Pacific side.
In preparation for Nora, we battened down the proverbial hatches. We got extra garrafons of water (5 gallon jugs). We took in all the patio/balcony furniture, put planters up next to the house, made sure that flashlights had fresh batteries. For Olaf, we went out for a drink between bouts of torrential rain.
Olaf hit hard in the middle of the night. We lost power around midnight on September 9th. The wind was screaming through and around the windows and balconies. We went out onto one of the balconies around 1:30am to collapse or lay the furniture on it’s side – to minimize what the wind could grab.
I have only experienced East Coast hurricanes, and even then only a handful. This was loud! The wind, the rain, the car and house alarms going off – it was a cacophony of scary noises. I kept waiting for a window or door to blow in.
(My volcanologist friend Eric told me a long time ago to NEVER put your bed under a window in a seismically active area – that was ALL I could think about with the howling wind rattling the windows! YES, I know that hurricanes and earthquakes are different, the lizard-brain doesn’t care at 2am.)
Our power was out for about 14 hours – and we were relatively lucky. Our friends in Centro got power back Sunday morning – we are “babysitting” their frozen food for now!! After our power came back, we found that the A/C unit in the master bedroom no longer worked. Bummer, as the rest of the weekend and next week are predicted to be in the 90’s and humid (for here). Luckily our landlord has a great handyman.
Our rental house lost one tree – a “cotton ball” tree. My only sadness about losing that tree is that the hummingbirds and Verdins like to hide and nest in it. Our new place (AFAICT – we can’t go in, or see anything beyond the street view) lost a street tree. The flooding has subsided. Tiendas (shops) and markets are re-opening. We have resumed regular programming – baking focaccia, brunch with mimosas, watching the sunset.
This one was not too bad, however it has given me a new perspective. I will try to pay more attention to the storms and prepare for the worst.