Typhoon slams into Japan; 68 injured

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.

Typhoon 18 has left the place a mess!

I just got to work after a short drive through a hurricane.  That's a bit dramatic.  The worst of the weather passed through earlier this morning while I was drawing a picture on my computer and by the time we left for work around 8am the day had resolved itself into just a drizzly mess.  A runny nose of a morning.  A little windy but nothing like the lashing we received before first light.  Leaves down, flower pots scattered on the sidewalks, large puddles mirroring the gray skies.

And I'm partially deaf right now, by the way.  My ears have shut themselves against the noisy world and my head feels like a slowly inflating balloon.  It's as if I just came down from altitude in a jetliner or off a mountain in a car.  Or walking.  Damned if I know what the kind of transportation I used would have to do with it.  There is pressure and I hear things muffled.  What sounds penetrate come from unexpected directions and have me in a state of constant distraction.  I'm not sure why.  Could be an atmospheric effect from the storm or it could be just some residual stuffiness from a cold I had recently.

We won't know until tonight and we watch the television news what damage the storm brought.  For now it's just an interesting way to begin our week.