Preparing for a Typhoon - What You Need to Know

[tommy525]

You can also blow right off your balcony believe it or not. ONe typhoon took the wooden door right off its hinges and sailed it away at my apt.

Dont stand on the balcony. Kneel or be a crouching tiger if you have to be out there. A sudden gust could fly you right off and you will wish you WERE superman.

[Enigma]

In strong winds and mega rain, tie your curtains with a piece of cord and elevate them above any openings. (This necessitates wearing clothes during the typhoon - damn) I bought good draperies a few years ago only to have them stained by rain blowing in through a closed and locked set of windows.

[Mark Nagel]

Does anyone know a good website which shows a satellite image of Taiwan, showing the current path of Typhoons?

(edited from Sinlaku to be more general)

I'd like to see time-lapse satellite images, like the images that they are showing on TV.

[ceevee369]

Does anyone know a good website which shows a satellite image of Taiwan, showing the current path of Typhoon Sinlaku? .

CWB does offer time-lap images and you might find answers in the Typhoon 2008 thread

[zender]

I like to go to "wunderground" and click on "tropical"

[nemesis]

This is another one we use:

http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com
(This is just the track forecast)


The water vapour readings are pretty good, but it doesn't seem to be updated as often as the Central Weather Bureau one. You also have to add eight hours to the times, because it's in GMT. (Maybe you can set if for local time, but I can't be bothered.)

[Dragonbones]

Does anyone know a good website which shows a satellite image of Taiwan, showing the current path of Typhoon Sinlaku?

Hi Mark, in post one of this thread there is a list of links to check out. I try to keep them updated at all times. The JTWC and some other sites have good still sat pics like this: http://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc/satsh ... 30sams.jpg. This one http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis ... opical.asp has looped pics. Check out the MTSAT 4 and 14km links, which are probably what you want. Here's their IR loop from http://www.cira.colostate.edu/cira/RAMM ... pical.html (the older link) on the MTSAT Ch4 infrared:
http://hadar.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis ... _ls_0.html

[nazmikarakoc]

Here is the equipment you need for heavy rains

[Ducked]

If you don't have space for plastic dustbins / crates, and you don't have a bath to fill, you might try this.

Get a sheet of semi-rigid material that can be rolled into a tube (eg large opened-up and split cardboard box, bamboo tatami mat, foam camping/yoga/picnic mat, etc). That plastic stuff with two flat sheets with a corrugated layer in between, (airex?)(Coroplast?) that they use for signage, would probably be ideal if there's any lying (or blowing) around.

Form it into a tube, with some overlap swiss-roll stylee

Put a large bin bag inside the tube, and fold it over the top. You need a good overlap, preferably double. Obviously the dimensions of the tube and bag should be roughly compatible height -wise. If your bag is too short you might have to tie something around the bottom of the tube,and/or use two bags, one inside the tube, one outside.

Half or 3/4 fill the bag with water. The weight of the water expands the tube until its stopped by the bag overlap coming under tension. The whole thing is pretty stable, and the overlap protects the cardboard (if thats what you had to use) from spillage or rain if you use it outside. If you need a lid (don't see why you would, really), slide another bag over it.

I used this to store and collect rainwater in the Tainan post-Morakot outage. (It had to be rainwater because I hadn't prepared, duh!, and there wasn't anything else.)

I've also used it as a portable wash-tub when camping/travelling.

An advantage of the flexible stabilised bag is that it can be assembled around a roof gutter downpipe. It is often impossible to get a rigid bucket under one of these without cutting the downpipe.

Also, buckets are at a premium in such troubled times, and I'm sorry to say, someone knicked mine when left under a downpipe.

[Belgian Pie]

I'm in Taiwan that long and live in the same building for a long time ... that I know we have enough water stored for almost a week ... so, no filling baths, tubs or bottles ...

I could go down to one of the 6 convenient stores and 2 supermarkets located conveniently in a 200m radius and buy some dried noodles ... but I don't think it's necessary ...

Batteries are there, flash lights on standby ... dogs satisfied ...