Typhoon 4 as it is known in the Japanese media has passed Okinawa on it’s way to Kyushu. People are sweeping debris off the streets and most businesses are open again. The typhoon hit yesterday around noon. I was staying at a minshuku in Naha during the storm. The building would shudder at times.
The stores all have rolldown steel shutters. The canvas awnings that usually shield the pedestrians from the sun were all retracted. The ubiquitous free standing signs were laid on the grought to prevent damage. Those that were not were soon blown down. The rain was pelting in sheets moving more horizontally than vertically. Throughout the typhoon, taxis continued to operate on the streets. Otherwise there was little traffic on Kokusai dori.
This is election time and prior to the typhoon, the politicians were blaring their speeches from sound trucks. During the typhoon, you would only hear the wind, rain and occasional siren of an emergency vehicle. A few dozen people were injured including two in critical condition.
I ran a couple of blocks over to a friend’s 24 hour coffee shop to have breakfast. The owner had told me that they would remain open unless the electricity went out. Around 10AM the weather abated. I guess the eye of the storm was passing us. At noon the wind pickup up again. I was surprised to see the bank was open but I guess there are a lot of stranded tourists because of the grounded flights who need to get money to stay another night on the island. The pachinko parlor across the street had opened as well.
That afternoon I went to Nagamine dojo to workout. I was joined by Bjarn from Norway and Mosef from France. The dojo is in a very old wooden building but it’s surrounded by taller concrete structures so it was fairly safe.
This storm is a little unusual in that the typhoon season is usually in the fall. Overall I found it interesting how little disruption it caused in routine and how quickly life got back to normal here. Riding my bicycle to Shintoshin this morning, the only damage I witnessed was a number of trees toppled by the winds.