Typhoons come, typhoons go, trees crash down, but thank God for His great mercy!

And yet another major typhoon has delighted us with its presence ~ this one, Typhoon Dujuan, was combined with the super moon and the high tides of the lunar eclipse, to make it potentially more dangerous….

Taiwan’s Mid-Autumn Moon Festival was celebrated this weekend, with a 3-day holiday. When we packed up on Friday, we knew there was a tropical storm out there in the Pacific Ocean – but it was heading north to Japan.  By Friday evening, it had changed direction more towards Taiwan, grown into a medium-sized typhoon, and flooding and major damage became a big possibility.

By yesterday, the medium-sized typhoon had become much bigger, and was forecast to be a direct hit, passing right over the island.  And as yesterday was the 3rd day of the moon festival, also a typhoon day (official closures of school and work), so all roads and public transport were packed with people trying to get home. In the event, hundreds of flights, trains and buses were cancelled or delayed, but fortunately late last night, the local governments declared today to be a typhoon day too for northern and central Taiwan.

Typhoon Dujuan made landfall early evening yesterday on the east coast at Ilan, and left Taiwan from the central west coast, Changhua, at 1:00am this morning.

And we survived to tell the tale.

So here we are. Tuesday morning.  Clearing up.  Again!

Actually as typhoons go, this was not as bad as Typhoon Soudelor last month.  Nowhere near as bad.  More rain, but less wind.  Don’t get me wrong, there was a huge amount of wind.  But less than Typhoon Soudelor.  My tin roof did not blow off.  My bathroom ceiling did not blow in.  My windows did rattle.  But hey, I slept all night!

So early today at St. John’s University, there I was.  Being blown in all directions by huge gusts of wind.  But wearing my motorcycle helmet just in case.  Camera at the ready.

Rescued a poor and very pathetic small dog who had fallen into the pool outside Advent Church and couldn’t get out and was wailing and whimpering.  Actually that’s a lie – I tried to rescue it but it nearly bit my hand off, so the guard from the school gate came in his wellies and with his golf club….

A few large trees down, including a huge one outside Advent Church, which fortunately fell in the other direction onto the basketball court, taking the metal fence with it.  Many small trees, motorcycles, signboards, ceiling boards and chairs down all over. But much less than the last time when I wandered round the campus after the last typhoon.  This time, I even got into the campus of the junior-high school next door, which after the last typhoon was totally inaccessible due to fallen trees. Now the trees are completely cleared away, they have a beautiful new red roof to replace the one that blew off, and apart from a few small trees down, their school is looking good.

Typhoon Dujuan kills two in Taiwan – BBC News

So a few photos from St. John’s University this morning.  Very much the morning after the night before…..

And just to update you a little, the damage to St. John’s University caused by the last typhoon, Typhoon Soudelor, on August 8, is now estimated to cost about NT$ 3 million (US$ 100,000 or £66,000). Turned out that many of the higher-level classrooms on the 7th floor and above were flooded out and rooftop water tanks and other equipment all destroyed.  This time, it’ll be less, but of course we’ll only know tomorrow when everyone gets back to work and classes resume….

Thank God for His great mercy once again upon us and upon Taiwan.

And guess what? This morning at 6:00am, there was a rainbow outside my house.

Unbelievable!