Thank you dear Lord Jesus:
He kept me in the midst of the disaster and kept me safe through the darkest hour.
On March 7, 2025, at about 6:00 p.m., the state of Queensland, Australia, was hit by a 50-year Category 2 cyclone that began to make head-on landfall in my city, the Gold Coast. The winds were unimaginably strong.
I live in an oceanfront penthouse apartment facing the ocean with no shelter from the storm. The rain was torrential, the winds were fierce, and the waves rolled into white rollers that came in like a stampede of horses. The hurricane winds howled, the glass shook and rattled, and the rain slammed against the windows so violently that it was almost impossible to see out of them. The skylights shook violently under the siphoning force of the hurricane, and rain seeped in through the windows on all sides.
Our condo is 52 years old and has glass construction on three sides. Prior to the hurricane, the property owner had notified all residents to evacuate or at least take shelter in a windowless room. But I underestimated the intensity of this hurricane.
In a state of panic and distress, my husband Daniel and I kept soaking up the water with our bath towels, it was too late to be scared. The storm raged repeatedly for more than three hours, and the skylight looked like it wouldn’t hold. Once it was torn out, the other windows would crumble with it, and we were on the verge of extreme danger.
We hurriedly retreated into the bedroom, away from the glass windows, and put the sofa against the door. The wind was getting stronger and stronger, the whole building was shaking, with wind speeds approaching 100 kilometers per hour, as if the end was near.
Around 9:30 p.m., there was a loud noise from the roof and the wind pressure in the bedroom increased dramatically, and I knew – the skylight had blown away. We were afraid to open the door into the living room for fear that the wind pressure would instantly break through the window and the situation would become even more critical. I kept checking in with Olivia, but the fear in my heart was hard to quell. Daniel tried to go out to check the status of the living room, and I tried my best to stop him. In the end, we chose not to worry about anything else and just prayed for the Lord to keep us. I didn’t even have the strength to pray, I just felt like I couldn’t hold on any longer. We moved the couch against the door, and Daniel sat on the couch and pressed his body against it, so I was able to call the emergency number. However, the person on the other end said they couldn’t help – it was too dangerous out there.
After another hour, I nearly broke down. In desperation, I dialed Brain, the downstairs property manager, and told him I was trapped in my bedroom and couldn’t get out. He asked if I needed him to come up and help me open the door, which I politely declined for safety reasons. I politely declined for safety reasons. To my surprise, shortly after I hung up, he sent me a message telling me “I’ll be right up”. As I was reading the message, I heard him knocking on my bedroom door! I opened the door in surprise and felt as if I had been rescued!
We entered the living room together, and although the wind was still howling, I felt relatively safe in the living room at the moment. When I turned on the light, I could see that the skylight had indeed blown out, the kitchen was two fingers deep in water, and the carpet was soaked. Brian and another neighbor assisted us in getting to the vacant neighbor’s house (which was under renovation and unoccupied). As soon as we left the apartment, I immediately felt safer – there weren’t as many glass windows.
We didn’t get home until after the wind died down a bit at 12 midnight. Topped off the door, laid down and waited for the storm to pass. Then fell asleep at some point. At 6am the winds strengthened again, but not as violently as before. I simply went back to sleep. The storm continued until Sunday morning when it died down.
The whole process started on March 2 with the rain and wind, and the government kept issuing warnings and evacuation requests until March 7 when the hurricane officially made landfall. Multiple roads were destroyed, large trees were uprooted, roofs were lifted, and tens of thousands of homes were without water, power and internet. We were only about 3 kilometers from the landing site, and the entire community was in a panic as supplies were snapped up.
The most frequent message in my circle of friends was:
“Is it here yet?”
“Is it gone yet?”
“Isn’t it over?”
“Why is it here again?!”
“I’m going to leave if it doesn’t!”
No one really breathed a sigh of relief until the sun showed its face on Monday. When I woke up early Tuesday morning, I thought I had forgotten to turn off the lights – it turned out to be sunlight pouring into the house! The mundane sunshine turned out to be the warmest surprise at the moment and brought me to tears. Thank you, Pastor PR Olivia, for being there and interceding from before, during and after the hurricane to the impending flood. God preserved my life and my home, and the flood waters receded! Glory to the Lord!
Vivian Li
感谢亲爱的主耶稣：
在灾难中保守我，安然度过至暗时刻。
2025年3月7日傍晚6点左右，澳大利亚昆士兰州遭遇了50年一遇的2级飓风，开始正面登陆我所在的城市——黄金海岸（Gold Coast）。风速之强，令人难以想象。
我住在临海的顶楼公寓，正面朝向大海，没有任何遮挡，风暴直接袭来。暴雨夹杂着狂风，海浪翻腾成白色滚浪，奔涌而来，像万马奔腾般猛烈。飓风呼啸、玻璃震动作响，雨点猛烈撞击窗户，几乎无法看清窗外。天窗在飓风的虹吸力量下发出剧烈震动声，雨水从四面窗户渗入屋内。
我们的公寓已有52年历史，三面都是玻璃结构。在飓风来临前，物业已通知所有居民撤离，或至少躲避在无窗房间中。但我低估了这次飓风的强度。
在惊恐和危急中，我与先生Daniel不断用浴巾吸水，根本来不及害怕。风暴反复肆虐了三个多小时，天窗眼看就要撑不住了。一旦被撕裂，其它窗户也将随之崩裂，我们处在极度危险的边缘。
我们赶紧撤入卧室，远离玻璃窗，用沙发顶住房门。风力越来越强，整栋楼摇晃不止，风速接近每小时100公里，仿佛末日降临。
大约晚上9点半，屋顶传来巨响，卧室内风压骤增，我知道——天窗被吹走了。我们不敢开门进入客厅，担心风压瞬间冲破窗户，情况更加危急。我一边与Olivia不断报平安，但心中的恐惧难以平息。Daniel试图出去查看客厅状况，我极力阻止。最后，我们选择什么都不再管，只祈求主保守。我已经连祷告的力量都没有，只觉得快要撑不住了。我们搬来沙发顶住房门，Daniel坐在沙发上用身体压着它，我才得以拨打紧急救援电话。然而对方表示无法救援——外头实在太危险。
又过了一个小时，我几乎要崩溃。无奈之下，我拨通了楼下物业经理Brain的电话，告诉他我被困在卧室，无法出去。他问我是否需要他上来帮忙开门，我出于安全考虑婉拒了。没想到，挂断电话后不久，他发讯息告诉我“我马上上来”。正当我读着讯息时，就听见他敲我的卧室门！我惊喜地打开门，感觉自己仿佛被营救了！
我们一同进入客厅，虽然风声仍狂，但此刻我竟感到客厅相对安全。打开灯后看到天窗确实被吹走，厨房积水已有两指深，地毯全湿。Brian和另一位邻居一起协助我们前往空置的邻居家暂避（他们家正在装修，无人居住）。一离开公寓，我立刻感觉安全多了——那里没有那么多玻璃窗。
直到午夜12点风力略减后，我们才回家。把门顶好、躺下等待风暴过去。后来不知何时睡着了。清晨6点，风又加强，但已不如之前猛烈。我索性继续睡觉。风暴一直持续到周日早上才逐渐平息。
整个过程从3月2日风雨交加开始，政府不断发布警报、要求撤离，到3月7日飓风正式登陆。多条道路被毁，大树连根拔起，屋顶被掀，数万户停水停电断网。我们离登陆点仅约3公里，整个社区陷入恐慌，物资抢购一空。
朋友圈里最多的留言是：
- “它来了吗？”
- “走了没？”
- “不是已经结束了吗？”
- “怎么又来了？！”
- “它不走我就要走了！”
直到周一太阳露脸，大家才真正松口气。周二清晨醒来，我还以为忘了关灯——原来是阳光洒进屋里！平凡的阳光，此刻竟成了最温暖的惊喜，让我感动落泪。 感谢PR Olivia牧师从飓风前、中、后到即将来的洪灾，全程陪伴和代祷。神保守了我的性命，也保住了我的家，洪水也退去了！荣耀归于主！
Vivian Li