It's nice that people are so concerned about the welfare of Hong Kong.

And I know that watching storms is exciting... but... I think this thread might be spiraling more out of control than the typhoon itself.

I live in HK...and yes, it's a massive city. I still can't get over the forest of skyscrapers we have (though we also have a lot of beautiful mountains and real forests, too). However, HK is well-equipped and well-aware of the threat of typhoons. I would say they are almost too prepared. The observatory has warnings for every possible scenario at all possible threat levels. Watching TV is blast during typhoon season 'cause there are four or five pretty icons plastered on the top of every channel. There is heavy rainstorm warnings, landslip warnings, flooding warnings, high winds warnings, typhoon warnings, lightening warnings, and more.... But for all of us living in the skyscrapers, we're lucky if we see much of that. I went through a Typhoon Signal No 8 a couple years ago. No. 8 is when they shutdown the entire city. I was kinda excited since I never got to see a real hurricane when I lived in Texas years ago. But it was the most boring day I ever had. A few scattered thunderstorms and some windy gusts. Damage was minimal, but the TV news tried to play it up as much as possible. I also went through a few typhoons last year that caused a lot of rain (not much for wind tho). It rained about 20 inches in 2 days from the reports I saw. In anywhere else that I have lived before, that would be a serious flood. But in HK, it just runs down the mountains and goes back to the sea. The worst problem we suffered was the outbreak of mold in the house. (Note: No, the harbor tunnels and subway tunnels did not get flooded. There was no "Day after tomorrow" scenes of people running through the streets with a huge tsunami behind them.)

Well, these experiences are not direct hits. So what about 1999 when Typhoon York had direct landfall on HK? I love hearing weather horror stories, so I have been making a point about asking all my friends who lived here at that time about it. Guess what? They don't remember it. Now, that's not to say that it was a complete no-show. I looked up the news reports and I found out that two people died. One was windsurfing just before the typhoon hit (hmm...) and one slipped and fell. There was a lot of flooding but mostly in the less developed areas of New Terrorities. For being the worst typhoon to hit HK in decades, it was pretty manageable.

Anyways, my point is....can we please not compare typhoons in HK to Katrina?! There is absolutely no comparison with the destruction. The difference between the infrastructure of areas on the Gulf Coast and HK is huge. For one, HK is a concrete jungle...not a collection of wooden beach houses on a sandy shore. Secondly, the storms over here do not get near as strong as they can in the Gulf. And most importantly, Hong Kong is above sea-level!!

So for anyone else out there with loved ones in HK. Don't worry. And whatever you do, DO NOT TELL THEM TO CROSS THE BORDER INTO MAINLAND. Despite being more inland, you have a lot more problems to worry about it: the infrastructures of the cities, emergency response teams, and everything else.

If you guys want, I'll write back with a report of what happens after the storm passes. Though I doubt it will be a very interesting read.

BTW, what is this crazy TV show people are mentioning about a typhoon hitting HK? I want to see it, sounds like a hoot.