Shashwati asks why I chose to work in one of the most earthquake and typhoon prone regions on the planet. One good reason is that they are much better prepared for these things here than anywhere else. As the following map shows, the East coast of Taiwan is a regular battering ground for just about every tropical storm which comes through, but you hardly ever hear about it in the news. Why? Because the buildings here are pretty solidly built, even in comparison with the rest of Taiwan, so there is usually little damage to report. Its true that there have been some tragic landslides due to the over-planting of betelnut trees on the hillsides, but otherwise there is usually little to report.
Still, we need to be prepared — covering up our electronics and taking other precautions, so I was surprised that it was almost impossible to find a tropical storm warning rss feed. It is also hard to find good meaningful maps that graphically show you the strength and location of storms in a human-readable manner. Fortunately, the excellent Weather Underground website has both. Here is Kaemi which is expected to drop from a category 3 to category 2 storm before it hits here early next week.
Please don’t worry — we are keeping an eye on things and taking the proper precautions!
