MORE SENSELESS ACTS OF BLOGGERY

Been awhile since I’ve posted one of these – we haven’t seen much typhoon action in HK the past couple of years.

That ends tonight.



Yes, that’s two (2) typhoons there, though only one of them (the weaker one, not the Super Typhoon) is headed here. It’s been lurking offshore for the past week, and for most of that wasn’t more than a tropical storm. It wasn’t expected to come anywhere close to us, and now it’s beefed up and heading straight for us.

We go to Signal 8 at 1700.

Gonna be a long night.

Buckle down,

This is dF

EDITED TO ADD [13 July]: Never mind. Total fizzle. Linfa made landfall well before it got to us, so by the time it arrived it was more of a spirited rain shower than a typhoon. 

Hong Kong is SHUT DOWN.



Interestingly, Severe Typhoon Utor isn’t all that close to us. It’s something like 250 km down the coast. But it’s big enough and windy enough that we’re feeling it enough to justify a Signal 8 – which is high enough to shut down offices and public transport.

Which means a day off for me. For once. Most typhoons recently seem to have arrived at 1am and left town in time for work while we stay up all night managing window leaks.

Utor is no different in terms of arrival time, but there hasn’t been all that much rain so far, and Utor has been crawling towards the coast, so we actually got some sleep.

Everyone knows it’s windy,

This is dF

Well, Vicente has come and gone. And if you follow me on the Facebooks, you know that Vicente went from standard-issue tropical storm to Severe Typhoon, and instead of skirting well to the southwest of us, it ended up sideswiping us with hurricane-force winds.

Consequently, the HK Observatory raised the No. 10 warning signal – the highest one they have. The last time they used it was 1999.

Subsequently, I was up all night on Leak Management duty. Also, the wind blew so hard that the high-rise apartment block I live in was swaying.

SWAYING.

So I am beat, yes. Though it could be worse – the media is reporting 50 injuries.

Anyway, I went down to the plaza in my village to catch the ferry to the office this morning, and saw this.

And here is our first typhoon warning of the year:



Technically, it’s the second warning of 2012 – the first was last week while I was away in Singapore, but that one never amounted to much or even came all that close to HK. But as you can see, this one is gunning right for us.

That said, it doesn't look as though it will build up much more power to do much damage. It’s not expected to develop beyond “tropical storm” status, so it’s probably just a little extra wind and rain for us.

I'm good with that.

Imperfect storm,

This is dF

Hurricane Irene: powerful enough to pull a drunk idiot’s jams down on live TV.



And here I thought “waving my dick in the wind” was just a figure of speech.

Or a Ween song.



I’m of two minds about this kind of thing. On the one hand, I do feel bad for Eric Fisher – not because he got streaked on live television, but because it’s hard to get people to take hurricanes seriously when you’ve got people behind you cavorting about in it making fun of you.

On the other hand, you could think of it as an almost admirable irreverence to the forces of nature. In fact, you probably couldn't ask for a better metaphor of the American spirit than preparing for a major hurricane by drinking a lot of alcohol then running around naked in it screaming “FUCK YOU IRENE! YOU DON’T SCARE ME! THESE COLORS DON'T RUN!”

Okay, to be fair, it’s not a particularly American thing. Here in Hong Kong (where we have typhoons on a fairly regular basis – there's one just across from us right now about to pound Taiwan), every time a typhoon hits us, we always get about 20 or so people who grab surfboards head straight for the nearest beach to take advantage of the bitchin’ waves. And it’s hard to be critical when you live in a city so used to typhoons that for most people, it’s not so much a grave danger as a potential day off work.

I guess there’s a thrillseeker/adrenaline junkie aspect to it – hey, I’ve walked around in big storms too, and no one ever said it wasn’t a kick.

Also, given that the TV media has a reputation for assuming the worst possible outcome of just about anything and milk it for maximum drama, I’m sure at least some of those people just figure they’re making hurricanes sound more dangerous than they really are. (The fact that Irene hasn’t quite lived up to the hype – sure, it’s killed at least 18 people so far and caused billions of dollars in damage, but that’s hardly apocalyptic – will probably reinforce that.)

Or maybe the naked guys in the Weather Channel broadcast are Ron Paul fans.

Anyway, the upshot of all this that while I understand what drives people to play around in heavy weather, I do think they deserve whatever they get. If Penis Guy ends up a casualty of Irene, sign him up for a Darwin. Buy the ticket, take the ride, as Dr Thompson said.

Lost in the sauce once again,

This is dF

Previously on Senseless Acts Of Bloggery:


Yeah. About that.



Megi went about 450km wide. We didn’t even get all that much rain. Not yet, anyway.

Which is okay for us. For Taiwan, not so much.

Selah.

Stand down,

This is dF

Meanwhile, in Athens, Greece:



SPOILER: It’s a composite shot. But a good one. It also mirrors the current state of meteorological affairs in Hong Kong. It’s been nothing but rain, thunder, lightning and doom today.

High voltage,

This is dF

It’s been pretty foggy in Hong Kong the last few days.

Here’s what it looked like yesterday.





That’s the new International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon, as seen through the fog across Victoria Harbour, catching a bit of sun. The photos don’t do it justice, but they came out better than I thought, considering I used a Nokia E52 phone.

Watch out for pirates,

This is dF

1. A tsunami sweeps over Samoa and American Samoa, killing at least a couple dozen people (and rising).

2. An earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia kills at least 75 (and rising).

3. Typhoon Ketsana kills over 300 in the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Most of them were in the Philippines. Manila was hit hard with flood waters, the worst in 40 years, after Ketsana dropped a month’s worth of rainfall in six hours.

Which is somewhat personal for me because a friend of mine is there now with her seven-year-old daughter. What’s worse, the only reason she’s there at all is because her mother died last week.

Still awaiting word. Hopefully just because the mobile network is still out.

dF out

Here we go again.



Like every other typhoon this year, this one won’t get that close to us, but it WILL come in the middle of the goddamn night. What is it with midnight cyclones this year?

Not that I don’t enjoy plugging up windows with towels at 3 am. Far from it.

Still, you know, some variety would be nice.

Put the kettle on,

This is dF

========================

EDITED TO ADD [17:25]: We'll be upgraded to Typhoon Signal 8 in about 30 minutes. So hopefully most of the bluster will be over with at a reasonable hour.