Our first typhoon

This week saw our first typhoon. Typhoon is Pacific lingo for hurricane. Like most things in Hong Kong, their approach is very organized. You know something is up when the typhoon signal is hoisted. The language must date from the time when it truly was a flag being hoisted, but now, of course, it is publicized by TV, internet, radio, etc., but also lots of signs strategically placed, for example in the shopping malls and the foyer to our building. Signals 1 is just an alert, and then it goes to 3 when the winds become substantial. The next signal after 3 is 8, peculiarly (they used to use the intermediate numbers to signify direction). But 8 means everything stops, schools and businesses close and everybody goes home. From 8 it can go up to 9 or 10.

We got our first 8 on Monday, around 4.30 PM. But it was very civilized because they announced that the number 8 signal was to be hoisted then a couple of hours earlier, to give people, especially those living on the outlying islands, the chance to get home. Our flat is well positioned to view a typhoon, as it faces east/north/east. But of course, we did not want to experience it from the confines of our apartment. So we waited for a break in the rain and then went down to the waterfront. The tall buildings interact with the wind and so in some places we would wonder what all the fuss was about, whereas in others, we would be struggling to keep our footing and avoid being blown off our feet. Duncan figured out that that pleasurable sensation could be enhanced if he held his jacket out with his arms to create sails. Given that the walkway was made of bricks that became slippery when wet, he invented a new sport of typhoon windsailing. Elizabeth and I restricted ourselves to just seeing how far it was possible to lean into the wind without falling over - quite far.

That was the fun part of the typhoon. The less fun part was that the wind quite effectively forced water around the seals of the windows in our flat. We had towels placed along all the windows, but in the living room that was not enough, because the towels were soaked in 5 minutes. Jacob worked out an effective wicking system so that the water would flow through the towel and into a bucket. Then the latches on 2 of our leeward windows (one of them nicely positioned right above the head of our bed) broke. I managed to fix it closed with a metal coat hanger, so that we could get to sleep.

The wind had dropped some when we woke up but the number 8 signal was not relaxed back to a 3 until 10.30. When that happens, everybody has an hour to get to work. I saw a fair amount of tree damage, but overall the city came through very well. Any debris was cleared away remarkably quickly. There are 2 or 3 typhoons that come through every year and I realized that evacuations never seem to be a part of the plan. Everybody is expected to go home to ride out the storm. I suppose that the buildings are constructed to withstand anything that is likely to come. We could feel our 20 year old block swaying a little and the window frames were flexing back and forth. It would have been fun to be at the top of one of the really tall ones, to see how much they move.