Typhoon Neoguri

We are currently in the midst of our first "real" typhoon since moving here. We had 2 last year, but they weren't really strong enough to count for much, this one was anticipated to be the worst one in 15 years, a category 5 "super typhoon".  It appears that conditions lessened before it hit here, which was definitely good news, but it's still pretty bad. There are trees uprooted and cars rolled over. One of my main concerns with coming to work was knowing that my car wouldn't be safely tucked away in our garage. I'm just hoping it's not flipped over or dented like crazy when I go to leave. 

I decided that was going to prepare early for this typhoon season, so on one of our shopping trips a couple of weeks ago, we loaded up a cart FULL of water and got all stocked up. I was glad I did it since when real threats of a typhoon come, the water, batteries, etc are wiped clean from the shelves. We made sure we had flashlights and a battery powered lantern, nonperishable food, etc. It was nice to not have to worry about this. One thing I didn't really think much about; however, was the fact that I am now "mission essential personnel" and was scheduled to work during the typhoon. Last year, typhoons meant a fun family day at home...this year, it means I have to be at the hospital and Grant and Rowan are home to fend for themselves. Luckily, Grant had the day off though, otherwise I'm not sure what we would have done. I have checked in several times and Grant says they are safe, although the humidity in the house is climbing, we don't have power and the storm is so loud it sounds like a freight train is right outside the house. Rowan doesn't seem to notice much except to occasionally point outside when it gets really loud. I'm grateful to have a husband I trust to keep my baby safe.

I got called into work last night at midnight (when we reached TCCOR-1C), even though I am not scheduled to work until 7pm tonight (so I essentially spent an entire day and night here before I was even scheduled to work, but the conditions were too dangerous to go out in if I waited any longer so I was required to come in). Even so, when I got on the expressway last night, I almost started crying because I had ZERO visibility for the first little while. It was raining sideways so hard and I couldn't see a thing. Luckily it cleared for the rest of the drive and made it safely. 

 Along with all of the nurses scheduled to work, we also have every pregnant patient over 37 weeks sleeping at the hospital during the storm, in case anyone goes into labor, since we are not allowed to be outside during the "emergency" phase of the storm. There are over 60 pregnant women all camping out in classrooms at the hospital, and all the female nurses on my unit are camping out in an empty patient room. Got a couple good few hour naps and will hopefully be awake enough to endure the night. My sleep was interrupted more than a couple of times by announcements over the hospital PA stating that we were still in TCCOR-1 EMERGENCY, and then text message alarms (even with my phone on silent) all in Kanji (which was slightly alarming). Everyone says the best way to know if the typhoon is going to be bad is to see if the locals look concerned...and they definitely did for this one. People were boarding up windows, tending to their crops, etc. We knew we were in for a big storm. Luckily for me, we have generators here at the hospital, so I have power  and air conditioning and internet (and a shower), some things Grant and Rowan are having to do without right now ;( I'm so grateful we still have cell service though so I am able to check on them and make sure they're ok. I've been working on catching up on blogging while I wait for work to start. I REALLY hope it's all clear in the morning, so I can go home and sleep tomorrow morning.

I packed a bunch of snacks and the department stocked up on soda and snacks, but they decided the galley was also essential which I was very glad to hear, so I know we have food if we need. Breakfast looked better than it tasted but it was still good to have a hot meal.

 I have about 2 hours until my shift starts. Going to head down and grab dinner in a few minutes. Prayers are appreciated, but so far we seem to be safe without incident and it's a fast moving storm so it should be slowing down by late tonight. My work schedule this month is already pretty terrible, so this just made it that much worse (having to be here for 2 entire shifts that I wasn't even scheduled to work), but I'm trying to stay positive and enjoy the time with my co-workers knowing the Grant and Rowan are safe in our little cement house :)