Typhoons coming from the Philippines often devastate Hong Kong in the months from June to September, and even up to October in recent years. The storms can be deadly disasters. I am somehow grateful for that kind of disaster. Even since I was a boy, I have been taught by typhoons that we cannot take life for granted. God is an all-powerful being, able to do things beyond human control.
Typhoon is an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans. Hong Kong gets typhoons often from those occurring in the western Pacific Ocean near the Philippines. Once the grisly monster reaches the coastal areas of China, it is gradually cut off from its source of heat and water, and will dissipate.
Our childhood is however memories of happy moments because we dared. When I was a boy, typhoon was the definition of a relaxing “holiday”. School would be closed when signal no. 3 was hoisted and I devoted myself to pleasure at home. I did not know the widespread suffering caused by typhoon outside. Mother took home a lot of canned food as fresh markets were closed. I liked, not realizing its high sodium content and BPA exposure, canned food in those days. My mother seldom cooked such dishes like canned “twice-cooked pork 回鍋肉”, “braised duck with tangerine peel 陳皮鴨 ”, “braised pork with salted vegetables 梅菜扣肉 ”, and more…
Despite the monstrous typhoon, children enjoyed playing in the rain. Without wearing any raincoat, raindrops trickled down our bodies. We never feared any puddle of water. We jumped, splashed and smashed through the dirty water. Typhoons meant excitement. A kid in Hong Kong will not be complete without such a typhoon experience.
Sticking with your father, mother, brothers and sisters is what makes it a “family”. When we were children, it was easy for families to get together. Now, parents have gone and each sibling has his or her own family. We do not get together like what we did in the past when a typhoon came. Gone are the good old days in which a dinner table could be ringed with family members warmly chatting with each one on the latest storm news coming from the tiny transistor radio in front of us during typhoons. We often did not sleep at night in order to be updated about the typhoon news.
After I have grown up, typhoons are realized to be our enemy. They ravaged millions of homes and killed thousands of people. Recently, Typhoon Yagi affected Hong Kong and battered northern Vietnam, with the death toll rising to more than 300 people. Villages were swept away by landslides and floods. Well, we did not save our world properly. These days, typhoons are now strangely forming closer to the Mainland coast, intensifying more rapidly and staying over land for longer owing to climate change.
I had lived in Tai Tam, on the outskirts of the city, for more than 30 years. I went through a lot all kinds of horrible experience. Tress blew over in the storm. Windows were shattered. My car was pushed by heavy rain to the slope and my body was injured. Things in my house were blown away. I fell on the ground when rain poured down in torrents. Umbrellas flew into the sky. My embarrassing occasion is that I was unable to find any taxi home when a typhoon was approaching Hong Kong. I was trapped in the city and had to call my friend to agree to put me up for the night.
Now, I live in the city and all my dreadful typhoon stories in those years have become just a harmless joke.
When a terrible typhoon signal is hoisted, Hong Kong comes to a standstill. It often results in storm surges, floods and landslides which are deadly and destructive. Strong winds can collapse houses, destroy infrastructure, and even cause shipwrecks. To be cynical, I think there is at least one thing positive about typhoons: we all learn that God is almighty—He created the nature, the environment and all things. The living things, including humans, are simply the Earth’s dust. But, we keep selfishly polluting and causing more catastrophes…
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