The reports on TV every hour from the Hong Kong Observatory
were clear. This was it. There could be no doubt.
A tropical typhoon – a real one, with a name and everything – was heading our way. UTOR! THE MIGHTY UTOR
APPROACHETH, COWER IN TERROR.
We were to experience, within the next 24 hours, our first “T8”.
For those who read my post about going through a T3 the other week, the upgrade
was coming.
The atmosphere in the office was one of febrile excitement. To
imagine quite how giddy everyone was, especially the local staff minutely
dissecting the news, think what it would be like if Wimbledon and Christmas came
it once.
Swept up in it, I watched the addictive Observatory website
where it locates the storm and its projected direction. The nail biting bit is
that the projection is no exact science – it can be wrong by hundreds of
kilometres. So everyone was squinting at whether it was getting closer to HK,
and willing the answer to be ‘yes’.
And somehow, it’s more than just the fact that HK shuts down
and everyone gets a day off. The chat is almost salacious in the anticipation
of disaster, damage, danger. The war stories came out:
Wah, you remember that
year, la, when all Residence garden furniture blow off balconies, smash many
cars, ah? Waaah, so much cost, la, Consulate have to pay for all cars!
And so, I scuttled home and fretted about our tens of bits
of furniture on the terrace. The picture above shows me finishing off on Weds
morning, when the T8 was in force and the storm looming.
Plant pots huddled near the fence. Canopy reeled in. Tables
turned upside down and weighted. Umbrella tied up and secured to the wall.
The anticipation built. Don’t go to work, stay at home. Stay
away from windows, ensure you have a safe refuge to hide in. Don’t go near the
sea front. Don’t go outside. Beware flying debris. It’s like TWISTER…!
Except. When it blew over Weds afternoon, it appeared the T8
was the mildest in living memory. The storm didn’t come closer than 220km. Some
satellite dishes and trees had gone down. But that was it. The predicted havoc
on our balcony is below – 2 skewiff plant pots.
And this morning, back at work, everyone was disappointed. The worst T8 ever!
Which now I think about it is actually quite disagreeable. In
the Philippines, tens died and thousands of lives were destroyed by Utor. The
same will be true in China. And we are disappointed that we have only got a few
fallen trees. What did we want? Cars flipped, windows smashed, possessions
swept out the hole and away? The poorer Hong Konger dwellings flattened?
So in fact, this was the best T8 ever. Day off. Little
damage. No death. We should count our blessings. Because storm season isn’t
over yet.
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