Morakot...or more wind and rain might be a better title

So I am now coming up on the second full day of hanging out with the typhoon. I do feel quite lucky to be safe and to have such great accessibility. The internet was down for several hours this morning but zipping right along again now. I tried to get out to the beach (video to be posted soon) and I really couldn't do it. The wind is still so strong and rain is so hard that I barely made it to the edge of the railing. The Flip was getting wet so I didn't want to ruin it for a foggy video you can barely see anyway. I saw online that the center of the storm has passed Taipei and should be weakening. The way the wind sounds here, you would never know it.

I had hoped to be able to go into the village (Kenting) which is just about 0.5 km from here but I don't see how unless this rain lets up. As it is I am very fortunate as many of the hotel rooms are flooding or all wet and stinky. My room is on the second floor and in a rather protected area so it is fine. I do hope I can get out of here tomorrow. I have to go to Tokyo on Monday. Dang, wouldn't want the weather to interrupt my travel adventure.

It does seem a bit brighter today but the wind and rain are just unbelievable. It is about 38 hours now that this island has been getting relentlessly pounded.

I think Taiwan has been pretty lucky. I'm not sure the same will be true when this storm hits mainland China. I hope it weakens a lot after passing over Taiwan.

OK, this movie (if you care to call it such) is very choppy and will likely make you horribly nauseated. I was trying really hard to keep the flip from getting too wet or foggy. It wasn't easy since I could barely walk against the pounding rain and wind. I might try again with my little waterproof Olympus camera which has a short video ability. Stay tuned.

For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously. ~George Gissing, "Winter," The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft, 1903