Typhoon Fanapi

9/17
Calm before the storm. Typhoon Fanapi should land in Hualien in 24 hours and we took the break to have a BBQ party......

9/19

Fanapi landed here at 8:40am local time, and the wind speed was 220km an hour. That is the takeoff speed of a 747!

Wind and rain died down considerably after the landing, but continues to be unstable for at least a day or two.........

9/20 The day after

Fanapi has left the island and currently landing at the China southcoast. I took my usual morning jog up to Meilun mountain but the debris was everywhere......quite a destruction. I guess this is the nature's way of recycling.....

Hualien being on the east coast had the strongest wind but little damage overall as the storm moves inland quickly. Most damages occur in the central and southern part of Taiwan as always, as the mountains trap the moisture and produce heavy heavy rainfall even after the storm has passed. I'm looking to play tennis today if the courts are not littered with fallen debris.....

Taiwan's president has mobilized its troops, over 20000 of them to aid during and after the storm. Most of them are in the south where mass flooding is taking place. Here in Hualien, the soldiers have been out cleaning up debris all day, and by late afternoon, it is hardly noticeable that a major storm landed 24 hours ago. My hat off to President Ma..........