Level 10 Typhoon

Not since 1999 has Hong Kong experienced a level 10 Typhoon. I have to say it was exciting and very scary to experience one of this magnitude. Listening to 88 mile an hour winds while in a high rise can be a little unnerving. Our flat has amazing views, and with those amazing views come very big windows. Gail force winds and rains can be very intimidating while beating up against so much glass. David and I slept very little. 

I am amazed at Hong Kong infrastructure. I felt very safe. And I am amazed at all of the strategically planned spill ways and natural runoffs.

Our shuttle was not in service. It took David an hour to get a taxi, and another hour to take a normal ten minute drive down the mountain. The taxi driver can charge what he wants (he charged David 4x his normal rate), but David was happy to pay it when he saw what the driver had to maneuver through.

I walked Bowen Road to see the aftermath; a path that David and I usually walk on Sundays because the road is level and little effort is needed. The road is always pristine, devoid of even a single leaf. Not today.

I braved hiking the Peak a few days after the storm. Let's say it was not an easy hike. I had to crawl through....

under....

and over.

The daily exercise group was displaced.

The two main streets were a mess.

And the serene waterfall was much more active today.

I knew it was a serious storm when the Hong Kong Stock Exchange wasn't trading. Of course, they were the first business to open up as quickly as they could when the storm lifted. Hong Kong continues to be an "exciting" city to live in.