February 21st, 2016

Cyclone Winston category 5 with Catastrophic damage/Cultural Celebration

This post is written by Kristi, I have not had any contact with Riley since last Sunday. I know that he is safe but I am still worried.

At 2am saturday morning I received a letter from Rileys mission president stating that Riley was accounted for and that he had been trained in disaster procedures. He then proceeded to tell me that the storm was bearing down on them as he was writing this email. He stated that there was no power and that he didn't know when it would return. He said that the country has been declared a disaster area. People have lost everything and the clean up will be extensive. He said that they would not let any Missionaries return until it was absolutely safe to do so.
As a mother I am completely overwhelmed by all of this. I have tracked the storm, I watched the footage when it hit and I have seen the pictures of the damage. Riley has only been in his new area for about two weeks. The island of Taveuni is where he is and they have not heard good or bad whether the people on that island are safe. I can't help but feel so relieved that Riley was in the process of making his way to the cultural event like 5 days prior to the storm. All of the missionaries but two were in the same place at the same time when it hit. This is the true definition of a tender mercy. Here are some pictures of everything. I hope I can hear from him soon.