Black rain, amber rain....it's all a pain

When it rains, it pours.

I remember walking through the rainy, windy Chinatown streets wishing I had an umbrella made of steel. The bottoms of my pant legs would be soaked with dirty puddle water and my umbrella would constantly be flipping inside out at every street corner. I would strip out of my clothing as soon as I got home and cuddle up in my soft bathrobe thankful to be warm and dry.

I THOUGHT I knew what a thunderstorm sounded like and what a lightening bolt looked like as it lit up the NYC sky. Little did I know I hadn't experienced anything when it came to storms.

I moved to Hong Kong during the perfect time: Typhoon Season

Yesterday I ventured out for lunch with a friend without my umbrella. Big mistake. By 4p.m. what started out as a light rain had turned into a Level 3 Typhoon signal warning also known as a tropical cyclone. There was an Amber rain signal in effect all afternoon.

When we see this signal we are supposed to secure all loose objects on our balconies, stay away from the shoreline, and listen to the radio announcements for further information about the tropical cyclone.

The typhoons can be a level 1, 3, 8, 9 or 10. When they reach an 8 the entire city shuts down like it would in a snowstorm. Offices are closed and people are advised to stay inside, away from their windows. I haven't yet experienced the level 8 although it would be nice to have D home from work!

There are also three signals of severe rain: AMBER, RED and BLACK.

The AMBER signal gives alert about potential heavy rain. The RED and BLACK signals warn people of heavy rain which is likely to cause serious flooding. Employees are not expected to travel to work in a Black rain storm. We had one when we first arrived here in July. D was already at work of course!

It can be a nightmare trying to travel around town when these rainstorms hit. You can't get a cab, the buses are beyond packed, and the escalator up the peak is very slippery. Sheets of rain pour down from the sky and you can't see 2 feet in front of you. D and I both made it home safely but were soaked to the bone. We got into bed thankful to be out of the storm.

Trying to fall asleep was a task for me. The bangs of the thunder sent vibrations through the floor and the bolts from the lightening crept in from the sides of our curtains and lit up our entire bedroom. Of course D slept through the entire thing.

The forecast says it's going to continue to storm for the next few days. I think maybe I'll just stay home until the end of October when typhoon season has passed!