Tag Archives: Typhoons

October 21, 2010 · 10:41 pm

Typhoon Update: China braces itself, Philippines hit hard

Hey folks, here’s a quick and rather serious update on the Typhoon, in light of my last post.  While we may make light of it over here in Taiwan, Typhoon Megi has been wreaking havoc around the Philippines, killing at least 19 people.  It is now headed right for the southeast coast of China, where people are scrambling to evacuate out of this very serious storm.  Over the last 12 hours, I have done some searching to get our weather updates, and found out the much less light-hearted side of the story.

Below is the link to the Washington Post video, which has some pretty intense footage of places the storm has been. Our hearts go out to those in the Philippines hit by the storm, and best hopes for the safety of everyone in southeastern China who are watching and waiting to see where Megi will hit.  As I find news of relief efforts in the Philippines, will add links to those soon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/10/21/VI2010102101664.html

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October 21, 2010 · 10:23 am

What if Every Season is Rainy Season?

This week the general southeast Asia environs has been weathering Typhoon Megi– formerly downgraded to a tropical storm, and then upgraded again to a Typhoon.  Luckily, it has not actually HIT Taiwan, per se, but we have had steady and at times relentless rain all week. Today, we have some wind!  Yum.

I’ve realized that Taipei weather is not unlike Boston weather, so no surprise that locals and visitors to both places love to talk (and complain) about it!  This has led me to compose a “Weather Mad Lib,” in which you can plug in either Boston terms (rain, snow, sleet, cold, “wintry mix”), or Taipei terms (rain, humidity, hot, fog, wind, typhoon, earthquake):

Hi there, can you believe the _______ today?  I mean, come on, yesterday’s ______ was pretty bad, I didn’t think it would get worse!   I know, right?  It’s more _____ than I remember it being, since the ______ in ____ of last year.   Well, that’s not so bad. This morning, it ______ed, maybe it will _______ again later today.  Don’t count your chickens.  Usually when it ______s here, you’ll be _____ing ____ all day, maybe even all week.  Has anyone seen the weather report?  Oh, don’t trust them, they said it would be only a 20% chance of _____, and it’s been _____ like this since last night.  The _____ woke me up at dawn! Continue reading →

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September 2, 2010 · 10:00 am

Weathering the Storm

Typhoon on TV

Thank goodness at least one part of the weather report was in English!

If you haven’t heard from me in awhile, it’s because I’ve been surviving my first typhoon and my first earthquake!

That’s a bit of an exaggeration. But it has certainly been a week with a deluge of weather, Chinese, meeting new people from around the world, and having some unique experiences in Taipei, including life at a hostel that’s a bit like camping: 3-pronged outlets only exist in the common room, and (paid) air conditioning in our rooms is only available from 11pm – 7 am.

Now, onto the weather: this past Monday and Tuesday, we were hit with two “Tropical Depressions” that created a good deal of wind, rain, and general mayhem among the already chaotic Taipei street traffic. Continue reading →

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