I know that typhoon are common in Taiwan during summer but I never thought I'm gonna have to experience it. O_O.
Hmm wait, what is a typhoon anyway? Is it like the one we see in the movie "Twister"? Aren't we screwed if Typhoon Soulik looks like that????
Apparently, a typhoon is a combination between a very heavy rain (called "torrential rain") and a super strong wind (which can break shop signs and blow up trees). And this is how Typhoon Soulik looks like from the outer space. It looks like a whirlwind of clouds.
I've never experienced typhoon before so I did a lot of Google-ing about what to prepare. My Mandarin teachers have been telling the students one thing and another but they have been consistent in telling us to STAY INDOOR during the typhoon.
So, how are we supposed to know when the typhoon is going to make a landfall?
To be honest with you, there's no way to know when unless you follow the news. The sky looks clear in the morning before the typhoon. There's even a rainbow!
The government will make an official statement which will be broadcasted by all local TV channels in Taiwan. If you are studying Mandarin in Taiwan, most likely your teachers/ schools will update you on the timing. This time, Taiwanese government allowed the offices and schools to close at 2PM (hours before the typhoon made a landfall). If you see the characters "停班停課"/"Tíng bān tíng kè" on your TV screen, that means the government has declared a "stop-work-stop-school" policy which means everybody can go home to prepare the necessity for the upcoming typhoon.
More clouds built up in the afternoon time.
In the precious few hours, you can prepare a few things in your house against the typhoon.
1. Stocking up food and drinking waters. (Typhoon usually lasts for max a day but heard that there's an occasion where it's reluctant to leave Taiwan and stay for days. Horror!)
2. Stocking up water for bath usage (just in case of 停水/ stop water).
3. Tape and cover your window. I didn't really tape my window but I taped over a cover behind it to make sure that in the event of breakage, the double cover can at least reduce the impact. I guess putting a wood or something strong will be better but I don't have any "carpentry" skill and there's no man in the house. So yeah. U_U.
4. Buy a flashlight (just in case of 停電/ blackout). The Mandarin teachers told us that this will be unlikely as the Government has made some improvement over the years to avoid this (well, the country does get battered by typhoon every year).
When the typhoon made a landfall around 3-4AM on Saturday (07/13), it's really scary and you can hear the sound of the strong wind slapping your roof, your window, your door...oh well, the whole building. The door keep on slamming up and fro and at certain point, you can feel the building is kinda swaying (although not as hard as one in an earthquake). Not a pleasant experience but since there's nothing I can do (except praying that it will die down very fast) and go back to sleep. Thanks goodness there's not much damage around my neighborhood but I did saw some bad damages all over Taiwan. U_U.
Please don't let there be another typhoon in Taiwan this year. (Well, I can make a wish, can't I?)
