The Hurricane - 13/01/2005

Nice, benign morning, but cold. Remains of wintry showers on the ground. Bus arrived a little after 10. Had previously retrieved the dustbins and their contents (yuk) from the hill behind the hostel. Fair amount of damage along the road to Stornoway. Garage wrecked, trees down by the dozen, trailers overturned and an isolator dangling loose on a powerline. Bins as well - anyone missing their bin? It's sitting in the garden at 6 Back (Isles FM). A row of pinetrees is uprooted in Balallan, some trees have snapped halfway down the stem. Fences are blown over as well. A funeral causes a tailback on the A859 at Laxay, because mourners park on the road. A huge number of trees are blown over in Willow Glen, including the ones that were blocking the road a few days ago. Sandbags outside houses on Bayhead, seaweed on seats at the Bridge. The grounds of Lews Castle are devastated, scores of trees (300-400) blown down, situation remains precarious. Christmas lighting has been smashed all along the harbour front. In the town, repairs are being carried out on Cromwell Street, and on the corner of Kenneth Street and South Beach Street, where the Star restaurant was damaged by flying debris. Two boats lie wrecked on the shore next to the ferryterminal. Owners clamber over boulders to check their state. Weather absolutely perfect - sunny, not a breath of wind and not too cold. Incredible, after the storms. Boat came in for the first time after Tuesday morning. Lots of electricity vans came off. Spoke to a few shopkeepers about their experiences and overheard several people exchanging experiences and showing each other their damage. Nice "warm" and sunny. Had a meal at HS-1, to compensate for not having a hot meal for a few days. Went back on the 2.20 bus. Terrible story of a family of 5, grandparents, parents and kids aged 5 and 7. They had fled their house because of rising floodwaters in two cars. These got swept off the causeway between South Uist and Benbecula, and they all drowned. Eitsal transmitter is still off air. Now a gardenpond has ended up in the wrong garden. Not all schools will reopen in the morning. People are urged to check on elderly or infirm neighbours. Missing your oiltank? It's lying in the loch just as you get into Balallan. Fire at Benbecula Hospital, worsened by an oxygen tank. Visitors are helped to move patients out of the affected ward. On return to Kershader, the power was still off, but it should come back this evening. Can't wait... It's 4.35, and I'm back to writing by torchlight. Have a book with walks and a book with Lewis history to read. Laxay has its lights back on, lucky them. Still, could be worse. Gravir has no water as the pumping station at Garyvard has no power. Eating habits slightly altered. Soaking the porridge overnight. Everyone was plundering a rather empty CO-op of buns and the like, if their power was still off. Western Isles hospital will resume normal service tomorrow, it's been on an emergency footing since Tuesday. Staff stayed in overnight Tuesday/Wednesday on account of weather. New moon in the southwest at 5pm. Not completely dark at 5.30, 85 minutes after sunset (4.06); sun rises at 9.03. Balallan is lit up again - when do we follow? At 5.50, the lights are back on, 48 hours and 30 minutes after going off, leaving that brief spell at 6.23 on Tuesday to one side. Central heating boiler plays up, need to reset it continually. Electrics still seem to wobble. There are apparently still problems at Lemreway, 10 miles down the road. Mysterious flood in kitchen, hot water tank had a lot of water on the floor. The librarian in Stornoway library was blown all over the shop on Tuesday. Still no reception on FM, apart from Isles FM, so no BBC; and no TV reception either. Don't know when that's going to be back. Various bits and pieces on Isles FM, including a song with rude lyrics, which was cut short very quickly by the DJ. Frost expected tonight; busdriver nearly lost his bus on a patch of ice at Orinsay this morning. Power still off in many areas. At 8 o'clock were blacked out briefly. Schools remain closed tomorrow, good week for the kids. Nipped out at 8.30 to watch the stars. Saw the Milky Way and Jupiter in Gemini. Have the hot water and the hot shower back: bliss...