Typhoons

On September 16, classes were canceled until 2pm because typhoon signal no. 8 was in effect. In Hong Kong, typhoons don't seem to put anyone in panic as they occur yearly. The signal system can hoist no. 1, 3, 8, 9, and 10 typhoons based on wind speed, and there is a protocol that once a no. 8 typhoon is in effect, school, work, and most transportation is stopped.

In preparation for Typhoon Kalmaegi on Monday night, you're supposed to secure anything that's loose, so I saw umbrellas and chairs in the outside dining area taken in and boycott banners taken down (more about that in another post). The communication of the status of the typhoon is very well executed in HK (well, they do get this a lot.) Here are signs I took pictures of:

signal no. 1 at my dorm front door

signal no. 3 at the library

Regretfully, I don't have any pictures of the no. 8 notice...I was in my dorm by then.

While I don't have a picture during typhoon preparations, these are the umbrellas/chairs I'm talking about in the dining area
(the benches and tabletops were kept there though, they're heavy enough)

The typhoon didn't hit HK directly, but brushed us from the side. From what I could see outside, the winds were strong (small trees bending) and the waves were very active. I never went outside while it was no. 8, so I can't say exactly how serious it was. Walking back to my dorm an hour before it turned to no. 8, the wind was pretty strong, though. (I had to resist so I didn't lose my balance).

No. 8 was hoisted on Monday night, and when I woke up on Tuesday morning, it was still no. 8. If the signal is no. 8 or above after 7am, all classes til 2pm are canceled. Because the signal changed back to no. 3 at around 11am, classes after 2pm resumed (but I didn't have any, so yay.)

I spent the day at the library writing postcards and studying...it was a relaxed day. Pretty cool to be able to say that I had a "typhoon-day" though...just seeing the signal notices reminds me that I'm no longer in Chicago, where typhoons, tropical storms, and hurricanes are only seen on TV.