DAY 4 SAT. SEPT. 7 HALIFAX

Hurricane ? What hurricane ? Or so we thought when we woke up this morning. We noticed that it had rained a bit through the night and there was a slight breeze under grey skies, but nothing unusual. But we knew something was coming, so did not make elaborate plans. After breakfast, we decided to go for a brief neighbourhood walk. The streets were very quiet. Then, about ten minutes into our walk, the rain started and the wind really kicked up. A quick retreat brought us back to our hotel for a window seat.

As the minutes went by, the rain and wind picked up in intensity, but, again, nothing unusual. Then, around noon, the power went out. We lost all connection to the internet, although our phones still worked. Then, Mother Nature really began to rachet up the fury. We hoped that each crazy gust and angry wave of tree branches would signal the height of it, but for the next six hours it would just increase. We genuinely feared for a large chestnut tree in the next door yard, but, like a veteran boxer, its branches bobbed and weaved: it absorbed so much violence, but refused to go down.

Around 4 pm, we realized that a hoped-for end was out of the question. Fortunately we bought some food ( bagels, peanut butter, cookies, trail mix, apples and bananas ) and lots of bottled water. We had enough. But all we could do is hang out in our small, increasingly dark room and watch the show. I ventured outside for about 10 minutes to get some video and was absolutely drenched.

At 6 pm the strangest thing happened. The rain stopped and the wind went from being a screaming banshee to absolute silence. People emerged from houses, probably looking for food, or walking their dogs. We looked at each other  and realized that the storm was not over: it was the eye. Surreal calm and quiet.

Then, about 45 minutes later, like someone flipped a switch, the rain and wind came back and roung 2 brought more body blows. Darkness came and Halifax remained a ghost town. So strange. We lost daylight before 8 pm and settled into bed for a long, edgy night. Sleep came, but it was storm-tossed.

We agreed that this was a unique experience in our travels, but not one we would want to duplicate. We later learned that Hurricane Dorion was, when it hit Halifax, was a Category 1 storm …. we had seen the scenes earlier this week when the same hurricane hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm. We spent a few silent moments thinking about the poor people whose lives were destroyed by a storm. And we were inconvenienced by rain and wind for a few hours. First world problems.

Our Halifax fortress

Rainy Halifax streets … hurricane hasn't happened yet

Stormy weather