Typhoon Update

by Pa Rock 
Cultural Explorer

Current View from My Apartment

It is approximately 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Typhoon Kompasu is still dancing out at sea somewhere.  She was supposed to have hit at 9:00 a.m., but slowed.  I went to bed last night with instructions not to go into work today.  Just before midnight, one of our sergeants called with the weather update and said the plan was now to report to work at the regular time.  I got there early, a quarter before seven, and by 9:00 a.m. we had all been sent home again.  Now the projection is that Kompasu will hit Okinawa just a few miles north of Kadena at 7:00 this evening.  We'll see!

I sat through a major typhoon on Okinawa in 1972.  That one, Typhoon Rita, danced around the island for several days before finally coming ashore in the south and working its way up the center of the island.  We were hunkered down in a secure building on base when the eye of the storm passed directly above - roaring, then scary quiet, then more roaring!

Waiting for a hurricane is somewhat like the anticipation of a snow day.  Will it happen?  Will we be out of work or away from school?  When will life get back to normal?

Right now it is very overcast, but no rain.  I may get out and snap a few photos before the fun starts.