Survived Typhoon Mangkhut

Dramatic scenes in Heng Fa Chuen, with a man by the waterfront

Typhoon Mangkhut has come and gone -- and it was a whole day affair.

Late last night around 1.10am the Hong Kong Observatory raised the T8 signal. Early in the morning I could hear howling from my air conditioner and rain pounding against the windows which was unsettling. Would my windows blow out? Why did I not tape them?!

Outside my flat the elevator shaft was howling loudly along with any fan connected to the walls of my flat -- they were whirling away madly and blowing in any debris that was lodged in them into my flat -- including a broken tiny spring probably from a pen!

Many windows were blown out in a building in Hung Hom

Cooking breakfast was a bit nerve-wracking because the stove fan was making strange noises from the wind. And my building was swaying periodically too...

Meanwhile on social media people started posting pictures of destruction -- first it was the flooding on the waterfront in Heng Fa Chuen, the fast east side of Hong Kong Island, and then an office building in Hung Hom had its windows blown out and with them flew lots of papers too...

There was also footage of a construction crane falling off a tall building, same with a tree that was growing on a rooftop of another building. And one of the front doors of the InterContinental Hong Kong shattered from the powerful winds, while the Mercedes-Benz showroom in Wan Chai was completely flooded.

A tree broke in Tsim Sha Tsui next to The Peninsula

The list goes on and on, but the good thing is that as far as I know, there were no casualties, and the vast majority of people stayed at home. However, my friend YTSL told me this morning her friend went to Wan Chai for dim sum with her family at Hopewell Centre during T10! Apparently the restaurant was half full and mostly elderly people. Guess some cannot do without yum cha...

The only transportation running was the MTR and some taxis so overall the city was dead, which is strange as we all know it as a metropolis that is non-stop. But today it was eerily quiet.

In all my 15 years of living on and off in Hong Kong, this is the worst I have ever experienced! And no I didn't need tape. Nevertheless, today will be an "I remember" moment for a long time to come...