Typhoon Kompasu

So, as a native Floridian and multiple Hurricane survivor, I feel like typhoons really aren't that big of a deal. Also, Typhoon Kompasu is named after a compass? What the fuck is that? Not intimidating at all (but then, Katrina isn't particularly intimidating, but you saw the damaged she did).

Yes, last night at about 4 a.m. I was woken up by mildly howling winds and light window shaking. But compared to the hurricanes I slept through in 2003 and 2004, I'd have to say it was nothing. The winds were strong, with gusts clocking in at nearly 60 mph. However, in August and September of 2004, the string of hurricanes named Charley, Ivan, Frances and Jeanne (cat. 4, 5, 4 & 3 respectively) all made landfall in Florida (Frances, the strongest, just skirted my hometown creating only some relatively minor damage, as did Charley). Ivan and Jeanne, however, hit dead on.

For meteorologic date regarding storms of that size, a category 3 hurricane has SUSTAINED winds (not gusts) of 110-130 mph and a cat. 5 hurricane (capable of causing what is called "catastrophic damage) has sustained winds of over 150 mph. As such, 60 mph is childs play by my standards.

Perhaps some of my fondest memories as a child were receiving hurricane days in elementary and middle school and being allowed outside during  tropical storms or the outer bands of low category hurricans (usually cat. 1) and flying those little parachute toy soldiers across our two-acre lot by standing on a small concrete wall and releasing them from a height of perhaps 10 to 12 feet. They flew shockingly far, and it was never my job to retrieve them, which made releasing them that much more fun. Category one hurricanes has sustained winds of 75-95 mph.

However, this typhoon was a bit frightening as it seems no one really prepares for them in any noticeable manner. In Florida, you will see windows boarded up days before the hurricane hits, and grocery market shelves are stripped bare of water, batteries, and non-perishable food items and attempts to prepare oneself for the possibility of days without electricity (I remember my senior year of high school having no electricity for the whole of one week, and with it, no running water to speak of. Imagine that, combined with several inches of standing water in your front yard providing a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes, plus unforgivingly hot and sunny post hurricane weather, and only triscuits and chef boyardee to sustain you for one week). Here, no one boards up windows, no one protects their crops (granted, there are no crops to speak of here in Incheon) and no one creates any fuss at all.

Understandably so. It's just a real bad thunderstorm.

But that damn thunderstorm sure was a pain in the ass. At about 6 a.m. I woke up to the strongish winds and rain on my window. Then, as I was preparing for my day, the door connecting to the air conditioning utility room to the rest of my apartment blew open with a crash and a sudden woosh of warm humid air, thoroughly scaring the shit out of me. I lept up out of my desk chair and pushed it forcefully shut whereupon it immediately blew open yet again.

"Hmph," I thought, "This will not work"

And I pulled out the packing tape and I had used to save the day the last time this very thing happened to me. Alas, this time, it did not suffice. A mere 5 minutes later, the wind blew the door crashingly open again.

So, I decided enough was enough and moved my coffee table against the door, and then put my desk chair behind that, wedged between the coffee table and my bed. Problem solved.

That's it for now.

xoxo
A