Americans call them hurricanes. I grew up knowing them as typhoons. About 10 of them come every year. Most of them just brought lots of rain. Once in a while, they wreaked havoc no less than Katrina. Fanapi is a rare. She is the only one this year and, unlikely the majority of them, aims directly at the center of this island of Taiwan.
Internet announced that I was officially stranded in Taipei. I frantically re-arranged the rest of my trip and went to bed. Rain steadily became heavier through out the night. I woke up in the morning and found Taipei eerily calm. It could be just Sunday morning, but I swear the streets were never emptier.
Now, strangely, I have a day to myself. This is unfamiliar. Of course, I could just glue to the laptop and go the gym for breaks. That seems so lame for a surprise “typhoon holiday.” Movies, museums, shopping? Or just forget about everything and curl up to a book next to a good cup of tea?
Fanapi has been gaining strength as it lands the east shore. At the moment, the maximum wind speed is about 110 miles per hour. As I, safely in the hotel room, contemplate boredom. TV is blasting news on people fighting for their very survival or the preservation of livelihood. Their war is less than 50 miles away from where I am.
Guess reading would be my choice now. I chose escapism.
Edit: the next day.
Fanapi’s max wind speed reached “level 16”; that’s about 125 miles per hour. TV showed a smallish reporter literally blown away. She managed to crawl behind a pillar and was rescued by her camera man. Another reporter was holding on to a toppled truck and clearly had trouble speaking against the wind. The heaviest rainfall was about 2 feet. The water rose to the first floor ceiling in less than an hour.
Taipei city was mostly closed or boarded up. Strong wind did the usual tree and signage damages. My hotel used wood planks to latch up all doors except for one in the front. Last time, the wind blew doors open and caused major damages.
I found a barbershop nearby and had a hair cut. Then the cinemax was open, so I watched Inception.