Friday, August 22, 2008

Eye of the storm


I am at home, and was waiting for the Typhoon No. 8 signal to be issued at 8am as promised on the Hong Kong Observatory's website, at which point I could declare the office closed; it has now been issued, but in the meantime I was rather taken with the Typhoon No. 10 warning, which is unreasonably poetic:

Remember
that if the eye of the typhoon
passes directly over Hong Kong,
there may be a temporary
lull
lasting a few minutes to several hours.

Do not relax
your guard, as there will be
a sudden resumption
of violent winds
from a different direction. Remain
where you are if protected
and be prepared for
destructive winds.

7 comments:

Mummy said...

Brilliant, just brilliant

Unknown said...

are we in a lull now?? i thought a t9 would be a bit more feisty....

Claire said...

It reminds me of Peter Porter's "Your Attention Please".

LottieP said...

I was thinking of that yesterday too:

"Some of us may die.
Remember, statistically
It is not likely to be you."

See here for the full poem.

LottieP said...

Typhoon Nuri has "weakened into a tropical depression". It was already mildly despondent when it hit Hong Kong.

Anonymous said...

beautiful

I shall never read public announcements in the same way again.

LottieP said...

Nice to see you here, Diana. I love the paternalistic nature of HK public service announcements - such as the recorded announcement at beaches: "If you get into trouble, signal for help". And the nauseating signs in the MTR urging you to cling lemming-like to the escalator handrail: "Be my friend and hold me tight".