It was slow moving and we had plenty of warning. As it approached yesterday the typhoon warnings were issued starting at 1 (standby) overnight then 3 (strong wind) in the morning. The system of signals and their terminology is quite nautical - signals are 'hoisted' and 'lowered' for example - presumably dating from British rule.
The initial forecast gave low probability of gale-force winds. But later in day the storm strengthened and made a sharp right-turn towards Hong Kong. From my office we watched staff at the next-door 'W hotel' pushing deck-chairs into the roof-top swimming pool to prevent them being blown-away.
Around 5pm the 'level 8' signal for gale-force winds was hoisted. We were asked to leave work and go home. Normally busses run for only 1-2 hours after this signal so you can't wait around. Also private motor insurance is suspended, so you don't want to write-off your car during a T8 as one Porsche-owner apparently did last time.
I took the MTR to Hong Kong to catch the Parkview shuttle-bus and found 60 fellow residents waiting. Some had been waiting for an hour, as the busses were blocked by almost grid-locked traffic. Eventually 3 busses arrived and we all got home about 6:30 just as the rain became heavy.
The winds reached maximum strength after midnight as the storm was closest to Hong Kong and strengthened to a 'severe typhoon'. From 1-3am the wind warning level was raised to the maximum T10 (hurricane force), the first time since 1999. The HK observatory also raised a landslip warning and an amber-level rainstorm warning.
In the morning T8 was still in force and we briefly found we had no power in our apartment due to a tripped fuse. Outside could see damaged trees and some flooding of the tennis courts.
At 10:30 am the warning was down-graded back to T3 and traffic resumed. There were no busses initially so I immediately joined the que for a cab to work. Despite the long que and few taxies no-one was sharing. When I eventually got to the front of the line, I broke convention and invited two others to share.
I was shocked to see how many trees had fallen - I counted 6 down in the first 500m including this one across Wong Nai Chung Gap road which held us up for 15 min. Nevertheless this I was soon at work.
Hannah's school was cancelled for the day, was was her swimming lesson due to debris in the pool. So Rika had the challenge of entertaining her in the apartment.
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