We were on watch for what was being called the BIGGEST Storm of the Year, which was heading straight for us! They said it would be the largest Typhoon that has hit Hong Kong in the last 34 years.
This is what it looked like from a satellite photo:
As beautiful as it is ominous...
We watched for two days prior, very closely to the Hong Kong Observatory's projections...
(Photo Credit: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm)
It appeared that the Typhoon was heading STRAIGHT for Hong Kong!
Here is the legend to go with the picture.
| Legend | Color | Track Accuracy | ||||
 | Analysed Position |  | Tropical Depression | |||
 | Forecast Position |  | Tropical Storm | |||
 | Past Track |  | Severe Tropical Storm | |||
 | Forecast Track |  | Typhoon | |||
| (The colors of the symbols above will change with the classifications of the tropical cyclone) |  | Severe Typhoon | ||||
 | Low Pressure Area or Extratropical Low |  | Super Typhoon | |||
Yes. A SUPER Typhoon is as BIG and BAD as they get...
We prepared by stocking up on groceries, supplies and water! You never know if this Typhoon actually caused destruction we could be out of luck for days...
Then we taped the windows.
Todd and I were joking about how this thin tape would really help at all? But, apparently, if the glass breaks it helps it minimizes the glass debris. Considering every room in our flat has large windows, we didn't argue....
The clouds started to gather Saturday night.
We were expecting the Typhoon to hit sometime Sunday...
The sky was beautiful and peaceful...
Sunday morning. We were on alert, and Krystin was not feeling well (still swollen and recovering from teeth), so we made sure to stay close to home.
It started to rain early in the day, and the wind started to pick up...
Todd and I thought we were really funny and took this pic (under the waterfall). It was actually raining, but not quite this hard yet. :)
Sunday night the storm slowly crept closer and closer to Hong Kong, by 6:40pm we were at a T8 warning, which means transit is shut down.... Work and school are cancelled... Of course, since we don't get 'snow days' the kids were all hoping the storm would last long enough to give them an extended weekend. Krystin agreed. An extra day to heal (without additional homework) would be nice....
At 10pm we went to bed (after watching a few old episodes of Dr. Who), right as the storm started to cause the wind to whistle loudly through our building, jostling the windows, and rattling doors, with rain pounding as well... I swear these storms ONLY happen in the middle of the night, much like children's severe illnesses...
Lily is terrified of storms and quickly hid in our closet. She has claimed the bottom shelf as her own, and we even have a blanket for her in there. Honey wasn't worried one bit and just went and slept in her normal bed!
To be honest, I was so tired I slept through the majority of it. I woke around 6am to quiet outside. I checked the HK observatory to see what the night had brought with it. Apparently, the storm chose another course and was greatly diminished by morning, so we never had the full brunt of the storm here, thankfully. Yet, because we were so close and storm direction can be uncertain we were still on a T8 warning until 10am, just long enough to allow the kids to have Monday off, and for Todd to work from home... :)
Honey was relieved!
Lily and Kayla were worn out from the storm...
Todd and I had a sushi lunch date (SWEET!), and were taken aback at how gray everything was. It was as if everywhere you looked was shrouded in a gray-mistlike cloud....
I love the sky, right after the storm as the sun starts to peak through....
There is something magical about it....
Perhaps it is what I imagine hope to look like...
We are thankful for our safety and to have been home together to weather the storm...
Even though, we did miss Logan!
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