Everyone has heard of it now yes? It has been the biggest typhoon to ever hit landfall, with devastating consequences to the people of the Philippines. My regards and sorrow to everyone who has lost a loved one, their home and their lives.
For myself, I have been visiting my family in Vietnam. There were a lot of warnings, no one knowing what would happen when Haiyan moved on. At first it looked as if it was only the middle coast that would be hit directly, with it then moving up towards Hanoi the capitol and then onto china. My family are based in Hanoi and Saigon so I was very worried. Vietnam evacuated around 800,000 people from the coastal line. One day I saw the men of the military move out of Hanoi. Trucks and trucks full of men in green and blue, on their way to save lives. I was moved.
The coastal town of Hai Phong was hit the worst but luckily minimal losses were made thanks to the preparation put in. Hanoi itself, where I have been staying, had only rain and wind of tropical storm type. Nothing near a typhoon. My family are all fine.
But for those few days that we all sat waiting as our country sent out the military to face an unstoppable danger I was on edge. I was worried for my family and myself. I was worried that I would be stuck in Vietnam. I was worried that we’d lose our homes. That we may even lose each other. It really put me in perspective of how life can throw things at you that you just can’t control. That if you want something, you’ve got to do it now.
Plus, I know exactly what I want now… 😉