Typhoon #4

Transcript

This weekend Typhoon #4 is sweeping across Japan from west to east. Typhoons cause quite a lot of damage, and this one hit the Pacific side of Japan pretty hard.

As of noon on Sunday, July 15th, 3 people have have reported killed and dozens have been injured. Quite a few houses have been flooded, some trees have been uprooted, and there have been several landslides. Many activities like travel, construction, and summer festivals were put on hold yesterday.

I have great respect for typhoons, especially for the strong winds that we sometimes get. Many years ago a typhoon knocked the TV antenna from the roof of my house. It was hanging by one cable, swinging wildly against the side of my house, so I went outside to cut the cable and secure the antenna on the ground. I got up on a small step-ladder and braced myself against the powerful wind.

Just as I cut the last piece of cable, the wind suddenly died down. Since I had been struggling hard against the wind, I stumbled off the ladder. As I fell something caught one of my fingernails and ripped it off almost completely. I'd thought I could work outdoors in any weather, but instead I found myself lying out in the wind and rain, screaming in agony. My wife called an ambulance, and I was taken to a hospital emergency room. That night I became a statistic, one of many people treated for injuries from a typhoon.

My fingernail still looks weird. It will never heal properly, even after 20 years, but that's okay. One mangled fingernail is a tiny price to pay for humility and a constant reminder that I must respect nature.