Typhoon Krosa--A Crane in Khmer

It is not a coincidence, one super typhoon holiday a month this year in Taiwan. After super typhoon Sepat in August, followed by super typhoon Wipha in September, now the Super typhoon Krosa slammed Taiwan Saturday, October the 6th.

Krosa is as powerful as its two predecessors, if not stronger. It covers much bigger area with sustained winds of over 240 kilometers and gusts of over 270 kilometers per hour. The name of Krosa is assigned by the Hong Kong Observatory, means crane in Khmer. What a unique name! What does a crane have to do with a super typhoon?

While most people could enjoy watching TV during typhoon holidays, I would do likewise only if I could receive proper image from my satellite TV. It is too bad that whenever there is no peace in the sky, I see only the warming signals of bad resolution on the screen. That's why I end up sitting in front of the desktop, nagging about the extra holiday on weekend.

According to "Supertyphoon Krosa, Typhoon Alley and Global Warming" in the Daily Green Friday 10/05/07, Eric Berger made a memorable observation: "If you were going to create a new island I would not recommend placing it several hundred miles south of Japan." Typhoon Alley, the busiest region south of Japan, east of the Philippines is home to the strongest and largest storms of all. Sepat, Wipha, Krosa were all born in this region of Typhoon Alley.

In less than a week, I shall embark upon my journey in Japan for two months. I am flying north to venture out of the typhoon alley. Chances are, I won't experience more intense storms this year. But my family and friends are in Taiwan and I shall be worried about them even I am away from the Typhoon Alley.

We don't have to be a storm pundit to know that soon we might expect one super typhoon holiday a week, in ten or twenty years. The global warming is teaching us a good lesson hard. We must take actions collectively and diligently to treat the earth nice and gentle before we discover another planet to dwell at.

Being a rebellious middle-aged woman, I won't stay home, especially on the typhoon holidays. If the coffeehouse is open, you'll find me there sipping my hot latte watch the pedestrians dance in the wind with their 7-11 raincoats on and/or their colorful umbrellas in hands. Care to join me, golden ladies or friends of golden ladies?