Typhoon slams into Japan; 68 injured
There are some seriously stupid comments at the end of this article. "Overreaction," "a dud," and "better safe than sorry is a terrible excuse for train stoppage" to paraphrase them. Apparently some people aren't satisfied until they've been paid in blood for their attention to news stories. And don't understand that overreacting on the side of caution early is much, much better than making a late decision and getting it disastrously wrong. This is the difference between thousands mildly inconvenienced and dozens or even hundreds injured or killed.
I'm not sure how bad conditions got where we live. It was wild and windy enough and both the rain and wind crashed against our apartment loudly at times. But the power stayed on and we were safe and dry. My wife monitored the TV news most of the evening and we watched some dramatic footage of waves exploding in white showers and subway staircases turning into waterfalls. Mostly we were glad to have avoided the station crowds as the stoppage time came closer.
Later, we enjoyed warm bowls of delicious nabe and watched Halloween-themed DVDs. That 68 people suffered harm from this storm wasn't lost on us. We don't take typhoons lightly and we don't scoff at the results just because work continues as usual the next day or not enough houses fell over to suit us. We made our own luck, but there are others who don't have our options. As a nation, Japan has been reeling from news of natural disasters lately, so we have to expect the decision-makers to show extra caution in hopes of avoiding yet another one. Better safe than sorry is an excellent excuse, and if things don't develop into worst case scenarios, then we can all relax be thankful for that instead of getting all pissy about it because we don't know the difference between foresight and hindsight.
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Monday, October 13, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
But open for business here: Typhoon makes landfall on Kyushu; 3 dead so far
Typhoon makes landfall on Kyushu; 3 dead so far
The typhoon has been the major news story since yesterday. Here, probably 12 or so hours ahead of the arrival of a weakened form of this storm, we're open for business. The staff are making plans for sending the kids home early if it comes to that, but we probably won't see any bad weather until late tonight. But this is what I'm gathering with my smattering of office Japanese.
Typhoon days here are like snow days back home. For the kids, they can be a joy. For adults, a misery. Many offices and businesses will remain open, meaning extra-long and extra-difficult commutes in the morning and evening. Tomorrow will find broken convenience store umbrellas, the clear plastic cheapies, lying on the sidewalks like dead fish on the beach after a storm at sea. I'm pretty lucky in that even if the weather hits earlier than I expect, I only have a 5 minute walk back to our apartment.
Even with high winds whipping my umbrella back and forth and leaving my biceps sore from the fight-- I beat nature with a TKO fifty-one seconds into the third round-- at least I don't have to drive or take a bus or train. Bus and train service may be delayed or even cancelled outright and even if they're not, everyone will be packed in with the extra bulk of raincoats and umbrellas. It will be extra oppressively hot and humid and your wet clothes will cling to your clammy body like a monstrous leech out of a sci-fi-horror flick. I've actually commuted to work on a bicycle in typhoons, way back before the city passed a "no umbrellas while riding bikes" law, complete with hefty fine.
Not that an umbrella does much good in a gale, when the wind blows the rain horizontally or even upwards into your face at times. Muscling a bike against the wind with an umbrella acting like a sail or a wing threatening to take you airborne is yet another great cardiovascular workout that also shapes and tones your muscles. You end up wet not only from the rain but also from slimy sweat for a regular "oil and water" coating guaranteed to leave you feeling slimy and in need of a shower or a long soak in a cold pool somewhere far from the city.
My poor wife may have to drive in it! I'm going to be constantly checking the front door until she gets home.
The typhoon has been the major news story since yesterday. Here, probably 12 or so hours ahead of the arrival of a weakened form of this storm, we're open for business. The staff are making plans for sending the kids home early if it comes to that, but we probably won't see any bad weather until late tonight. But this is what I'm gathering with my smattering of office Japanese.
Typhoon days here are like snow days back home. For the kids, they can be a joy. For adults, a misery. Many offices and businesses will remain open, meaning extra-long and extra-difficult commutes in the morning and evening. Tomorrow will find broken convenience store umbrellas, the clear plastic cheapies, lying on the sidewalks like dead fish on the beach after a storm at sea. I'm pretty lucky in that even if the weather hits earlier than I expect, I only have a 5 minute walk back to our apartment.
Even with high winds whipping my umbrella back and forth and leaving my biceps sore from the fight-- I beat nature with a TKO fifty-one seconds into the third round-- at least I don't have to drive or take a bus or train. Bus and train service may be delayed or even cancelled outright and even if they're not, everyone will be packed in with the extra bulk of raincoats and umbrellas. It will be extra oppressively hot and humid and your wet clothes will cling to your clammy body like a monstrous leech out of a sci-fi-horror flick. I've actually commuted to work on a bicycle in typhoons, way back before the city passed a "no umbrellas while riding bikes" law, complete with hefty fine.
Not that an umbrella does much good in a gale, when the wind blows the rain horizontally or even upwards into your face at times. Muscling a bike against the wind with an umbrella acting like a sail or a wing threatening to take you airborne is yet another great cardiovascular workout that also shapes and tones your muscles. You end up wet not only from the rain but also from slimy sweat for a regular "oil and water" coating guaranteed to leave you feeling slimy and in need of a shower or a long soak in a cold pool somewhere far from the city.
My poor wife may have to drive in it! I'm going to be constantly checking the front door until she gets home.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Big typhoon heads toward Kyushu | The Japan Times
Big typhoon heads toward Kyushu | The Japan Times
When it's Friday and I hear the words "taifun" and "Do-yobi" tossed about, I always do a quick Google weather search to see if a typhoon is coming. There have been 15 typhoons so far this year, with one on its way to Kyushu at this moment. This isn't to say it will affect Hamamatsu, but since it affects school operations if it does, we have to be aware of the possibility.
The students, of course, anticipate typhoon days the way we used to snow or ice days in Georgia. A typhoon coming through Shizuoka prefecture means school closings, either cancelling an afternoon schedule or an entire day's worth. For teachers it means making sure the kids get home quickly and, most importantly, safely. Then we get to go home. As adults, how we manage that is our own look out.
This is different from when I worked at conversation schools. Typhoon days for eikaiwa can mean increased class loads from people who stayed home from work who have lesson tickets to use. Yeah, too dangerous to go to work or proper school, perfect for brushing up on your language skills. At my last conversation school, we had a set schedule every week which didn't change for typhoons, although students had more freedom to cancel and make the day up another time. That's sensible. We teachers still had to get there, although if situations proved dangerous enough we might have been asked to stay home.
That never happened, so I walked or rode my bike in some interesting gales. The first was in Toyohashi, which is a windy city to begin with. The rain that day slashed horizontally, soaking me from shoulders to shoes. I spent the morning with wet pants and squishy socks. My umbrella only kept my bald head dry. The windows to our branch looked more like the glass sides of aquariums without fish. We might as well have been in Nemo's Nautilus. Another time, in Hamamatsu, I left work on a stormy night and found the streets eerily, apocalyptically empty. Traffic lights signaling to no one when to stop or when to go, swaying, unseen shutters banging or awnings flapping loudly. All that natural energy from wind and rain contrasting with the still streets. It felt movie-like, or like a particularly atmospheric first-person video game I'd played where you had to accomplish your mission in a trailer park threatened by a tornado (if I'm remembering correctly).
These days typhoons usually mean I spend an afternoon and night without power. This has happened twice last year, both times typhoons scored bulls-eyes on Shizuoka. I'm predicting it will happen again this year, but with two of us being affected.
When it's Friday and I hear the words "taifun" and "Do-yobi" tossed about, I always do a quick Google weather search to see if a typhoon is coming. There have been 15 typhoons so far this year, with one on its way to Kyushu at this moment. This isn't to say it will affect Hamamatsu, but since it affects school operations if it does, we have to be aware of the possibility.
The students, of course, anticipate typhoon days the way we used to snow or ice days in Georgia. A typhoon coming through Shizuoka prefecture means school closings, either cancelling an afternoon schedule or an entire day's worth. For teachers it means making sure the kids get home quickly and, most importantly, safely. Then we get to go home. As adults, how we manage that is our own look out.
This is different from when I worked at conversation schools. Typhoon days for eikaiwa can mean increased class loads from people who stayed home from work who have lesson tickets to use. Yeah, too dangerous to go to work or proper school, perfect for brushing up on your language skills. At my last conversation school, we had a set schedule every week which didn't change for typhoons, although students had more freedom to cancel and make the day up another time. That's sensible. We teachers still had to get there, although if situations proved dangerous enough we might have been asked to stay home.
That never happened, so I walked or rode my bike in some interesting gales. The first was in Toyohashi, which is a windy city to begin with. The rain that day slashed horizontally, soaking me from shoulders to shoes. I spent the morning with wet pants and squishy socks. My umbrella only kept my bald head dry. The windows to our branch looked more like the glass sides of aquariums without fish. We might as well have been in Nemo's Nautilus. Another time, in Hamamatsu, I left work on a stormy night and found the streets eerily, apocalyptically empty. Traffic lights signaling to no one when to stop or when to go, swaying, unseen shutters banging or awnings flapping loudly. All that natural energy from wind and rain contrasting with the still streets. It felt movie-like, or like a particularly atmospheric first-person video game I'd played where you had to accomplish your mission in a trailer park threatened by a tornado (if I'm remembering correctly).
These days typhoons usually mean I spend an afternoon and night without power. This has happened twice last year, both times typhoons scored bulls-eyes on Shizuoka. I'm predicting it will happen again this year, but with two of us being affected.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Japan is melting
Oh man, this heat! You know someplace is hot when you arrive there from southwest Georgia in August and suddenly feel as if you've been dumped in boiling oil along with the souvenir peanuts. No, I'm only joking. We didn't bring any peanuts back.
It's so hot in Japan right now even friends of mine who never complain about the weather are complaining about the weather. One made a comparison of the weather here with the weather on Venus. Right now Venus is looking pretty good.
The big difference between Georgia and Japan in summer is the air conditioning. Air conditioning exits in Japan, but in Georgia, when houses and shopping malls feature arctic-like blasts non-stop, you can almost forget the walk to and from the car felt as if you were quick-stepping across a barbecue. My wife wore a cardigan most of the time we were there. I don't believe I've ever seen someone wear a cardigan in August. Atlanta, on the other hand, was downright chilly for us both. Rainy weather brought an early autumn. The airplane was a mobile prison of stale, freezing air. It set us down in a Jurassic swamp. The ground crew unloading the plane used apatosaurs to take care of their heavy lifting.
At first it was a pleasant sensation. Fresh, warm air and solid ground! Semi-fresh air, mixed with jet diesel and our own non-bathed odor. When you can smell your own breath it's time for a brushing. We started sweating that night, managed a degree of comfort in the afternoon, then broiled again last night even with two fans stirring the bedroom air. My first taste of the outside Monday morning was like drinking hot coffee or standing over a huge soup kettle.
One last observation. Georgia, which has had higher than average rainfall this summer, was the most startling green I've seen in years. The trees along Miyakoda Techno Road here have already started turning brown. I'm not sure if this is a sign of an early fall or if they're almost finished cooking.
It's so hot in Japan right now even friends of mine who never complain about the weather are complaining about the weather. One made a comparison of the weather here with the weather on Venus. Right now Venus is looking pretty good.
The big difference between Georgia and Japan in summer is the air conditioning. Air conditioning exits in Japan, but in Georgia, when houses and shopping malls feature arctic-like blasts non-stop, you can almost forget the walk to and from the car felt as if you were quick-stepping across a barbecue. My wife wore a cardigan most of the time we were there. I don't believe I've ever seen someone wear a cardigan in August. Atlanta, on the other hand, was downright chilly for us both. Rainy weather brought an early autumn. The airplane was a mobile prison of stale, freezing air. It set us down in a Jurassic swamp. The ground crew unloading the plane used apatosaurs to take care of their heavy lifting.
At first it was a pleasant sensation. Fresh, warm air and solid ground! Semi-fresh air, mixed with jet diesel and our own non-bathed odor. When you can smell your own breath it's time for a brushing. We started sweating that night, managed a degree of comfort in the afternoon, then broiled again last night even with two fans stirring the bedroom air. My first taste of the outside Monday morning was like drinking hot coffee or standing over a huge soup kettle.
One last observation. Georgia, which has had higher than average rainfall this summer, was the most startling green I've seen in years. The trees along Miyakoda Techno Road here have already started turning brown. I'm not sure if this is a sign of an early fall or if they're almost finished cooking.
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