Typhoon Day

I have lived here for years. I like to think I understand Chinese people. But then they go a little crazy and I am right back where I started.

Monday was a Typhoon Day. This meant that schools and government offices were closed, trains and buses stopped operating and a lot of people took the day off. My school was also closed. This is both good news and bad news. The good news is that I did not have to drive to work. The bad news is that I will be paid less this month and Pi Chi and I are taking a trip next month. There was another Typhoon Day two Thursdays ago. That one did not even hit us directly. I got to drive all the way to work in the rain only to be told that the school was closed and then I got to drive back home in the rain. We are not paid for Typhoon Days. Less money is not better.

Closing schools and offices makes sense when a large typhoon is headed your way. But there was no typhoon on Monday. Typhoon Fanapi hit on Saturday night and all day Sunday. By Monday it was pretty much gone. It did not even rain much on Monday. There was less of a typhoon on Monday than the distant typhoon on Thursday.

I live amongst people who have dealt with typhoons all of their lives. At least one typhoon hits every year and several usually pass by. We had no typhoons where I grew up. Not even hurricanes. And our biggest Earthquake Day happened after I was already awake and at school. No one ever told us to stay home because an earthquake was coming. Yet I seem to be the only person around here who never freaks out during a typhoon. The locals flood Carrefour and 7-11 to stock up on tiny fishes and stinky tofu. I simply stay home.

I would like to say that people are more paranoid than usual after Morakot. That was only a Category 1 but it caused massive floods and a shitload of damage. The mudslides wiped out an entire village and hundreds of people were killed. But people around here were paranoid about typhoons long before Morakot. They are reactionary but in a different way from Americans.

The level of American panic at an impending hurricane is directly proportional to the amount of damage caused by the last hurricane. Hurricane warnings were not big news immediately before Katrina. After Katina the slightest breeze made headlines. Especially if it was headed toward New Orleans. This weekend CNN yammered incessantly about a young hurricane named Igor heading toward Bermuda. It was a Category 1; the lowest category, with 100-120km/h winds. As of this typing there were no reported deaths that I know of and no serious property damage. Yet CNN covered it like it was a new Lady Gaga dress. I am happily out of touch, but even I know who she is.

At the same time, Typhoon Fanapi, a Category 3 (180-200km/h winds), was tearing through my city. It killed three people as far as I know and destroyed about US$8 million. CNN mentioned it in passing during the weather report.

Typhoons bring a lot of rain and heavy winds but they rarely kill more than a few people at a time. Most deaths are from people stupid enough to drive their scooters in the middle of a typhoon. Most of the buildings that collapse are those sheet metal shacks. I have not ridden a scooter in the middle of a typhoon in years, and that was an accident. I did not know it was a Typhoon Day. And we live in one of those well-constructed buildings. Most of the buildings here are much stronger than anything in the United States. Mostly because at least one typhoon hits every year and the area is subject to earthquakes. In fact, there was a tiny earthquake during Sunday’s typhoon. I heard that it was a 4.4. Hardly worth mentioning.

When I lived in 崙背 the electricity would usually go out for several hours during typhoons. During one super typhoon it was out for over 24 hours. That was more than a little annoying since it is usually very hot and humid during a typhoon and opening windows is not the best idea. But even in my tiny farm village I never worried about the building collapsing, though we did lose a few betel nut stands.

Here in the big city the electricity usually stays on during typhoons. On Sunday it went out for about 15 minutes. That is how I knew it was a big one. The rain was never much of an indication. It rained without interruption all day Sunday, but it has been raining practically every day since June.

My neighborhood is not on a hill. It is neither uphill nor downhill from anything. But on Sunday every neighborhood surrounding this one was flooded. The rest of the county just east of us recorded the most flooding it has ever seen. All the television news programs showed us footage of scooters driving in water up to their knees and blue trucks being washed away. There was no flooding here. Which is strange since it used to flood on our street after an hour of rain. Knowing what I know about the powers that be, I cannot imagine that they did something sensible like put in a drainage system, and if they did it was the fastest and most efficient public works project in non-Japanese Asian history.

When I lived in 崙背 I watched the eye of a super typhoon from the roof of my building. It was impressive and more than a little eerie. When we lived in the three bedroom apartment with a much better view I watched smaller typhoons hit us and larger typhoons pass us by. That was less impressive. But when the largest typhoon that has hit us directly since I have lived in this city strikes, I am in a lower apartment with practically no view of anything. All I could see was the constant rain and occasional lightning. But I have been watching that since June.

I cannot wait for winter and blue skies. Weather permitting.