Terrifying Typhoon

[*The photos shown in this blog post are NOT my original pictures.  I normally only use original photos, but as I'm not insane, I didn't go out last night to shoot my own pictures.  These photos are of the HK typhoon Monday, but from various sources, as noted below each one. *]

Monday night was an important 'first' in our life here... our first proper typhoon.

Google Images - Karmadecay.com

I was excited when Mike got to come home early thanks to the T8 (typhoon level 8) warnings.  All buses and most businesses close for T8 warnings.  It honestly didn't occur to me to be frightened... yet.  When he got home he said that there were little Chinese people getting blown all around.  And the party hadn't even got going.

http://www.newsgd.com/news/picstories/200608040003.htm

I have learned here that typhoons are generally just rain storms, with extra wind (at least that was all we had experienced prior to Monday, which were always T1 and T3 storms).  A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane, just in a different part of the world.

My friend Dustin Leitch snapped this of the line up for the metro to go home

Monday night's warnings went from T8, to T9, to T10 sometime after midnight.  That was pure insanity.  A T10 rating means that the storm has sustained winds above 120km/hr, with gusts up to 220 km/hr.  Every window in our apartment was rattling and most were leaking.  I was petrified.  Keep in mind, our building is very exposed, being on the side of a mountain and the fact that we are way up high.  If it helps to understand the force of the wind and rain, it was as if someone were outside our window with a fire hose directed right at each window.  Insanity.  I was literally shaking and unable to sleep while Foley snored soundly.

http://www.newsgd.com/news/picstories/200608040003.htm

It was only the second T10 in 28 years (the last one was in 1999).  These are rare and scary events.  However, HK residents showed their skill in living with typhoons when no buildings went down, no fatalities were reported, and in a city of over 7 million, only 128 people were hospitalized for injuries (due to flying debris).

Hong Kong markets remained closed until 1pm on Tuesday.  When Foley went in to work on Tuesday morning around 10am, the T8 warnings were still on.  He managed to get a cab, but only by paying the driver five times the normal rate ($100 HKD instead of $20 HKD).

Overall, Monday night to Tuesday morning was intense. I'm happy it's behind us.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news

 

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news