Another week, another typhoon, such was October 2024. Taiwan started the month with Typhoon Krathon – which caused major damage in Taiwan’s extreme north and south but left the rest of the country relatively unscathed – and we’ve now finished the month with Typhoon Kong-Rey, which swept across Taiwan yesterday, October 31. It’s very unusual to have such a big typhoon so late in the season, and it broke all sorts of records – the first typhoon in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October and the largest storm to strike since Typhoon Herb in 1996. It also caused all sorts of damage, but fortunately, the whole country was closed down for the day in preparation – so we could all stay home. This was a direct bullseye hit, the eye of the typhoon passed right across Taiwan.

Typhoon Kong-Rey made landfall in Taitung County, SE Taiwan at 1:40 pm yesterday, moved rapidly westwards across the island and departed later in the afternoon. Taipei City is quite sheltered but there was torrential rain for much of the day, especially in the afternoon and evening. It was only after the typhoon left Taiwan yesterday afternoon that the winds really picked up and blasted us all evening. It was wild out there – turned out that the sting was in the tail. It was then that most of the damage (see the photos below) was done at St. John’s Cathedral and in the local streets of Da’an. The green wall on the side of one of our buildings broke loose yesterday afternoon – and by this morning, was down completely. It was planted by our former dean and his wife over 30 years ago, and had been growing – and looking beautiful – ever since. Now it’s been cut down completely and piled up outside the cathedral gates.

Trees, motorbikes, bicycles, sign boards and all sorts of unrecognizable metal things are down everywhere, and even one of the cathedral water tanks broke loose and the pipe has been pouring water ever since.

The good news is that the typhoon has now gone! Everyone is back at work and school today. We’ve been clearing up and the streets are full of piled-up fallen trees and branches, waiting for the local government to send along crews to clear it all away, which will happen soon. Taiwan is very organized when it comes to disaster management. However, at least two people have been killed, hundreds injured, thousands are without power, and there’s severe flooding and landslides in many mountainous areas, including on the outskirts of Taipei City. We pray for all those affected. I quite like this U-Bike photo, taken right outside our cathedral, because somehow all those bikes held on – and although they all moved sideways, none of them broke loose, none are broken. That’s the Taiwan spirit. So let’s hope this is really the end of the typhoon season! 🙏🌀🍃