Tropical Storm Mirinae

On Monday, November 2nd, Tropical Storm Mirinae lumbered ashore in central Vietnam, bringing a surprising amount of wind, rain and waves along with it.

Having recently survived Typhoon Ketsana (a Category 2 storm which hit about 200 miles north of us) we weren't really expecting too much from a puny tropical storm like Mirinae. The main difference, however, was that instead of hitting 200 miles away, Mirinae slammed into Phu Yen province, just a few miles south of Quy Nhon.
We weren't the only ones surprised, as this article makes clear. While the wind in Quy Nhon was definitely stronger than Ketsana due to the storm's proximity, it was the rain that we couldn't believe. 600 mm of rain fell in our province in a 24 hour period. That's 23 inches in 24 hours, the heaviest rain here in about 60 years and far above and beyond anything we ever saw in "rainy" Washington State. Since the bulk of the city is built on a fairly sheltered sand spit far from any large rivers, Quy Nhon itself was unaffected by floods but many of the low-lying areas in this part of the country were inundated. So far, 98 deaths have been blamed on the storm, with 20 people still unaccounted for.

Despite everything it threw at us, we stayed safe and dry in our on-campus apartment here (except for the occasional foray outside with ponchos and video camera). Through the entire storm the power never went off and we never ran out of water. The same can't be said for much of the rest of the city, which is currently going on 5 days with no running water. Everyone seems to be taking it in stride, though. Life is basically back to normal in the city, with students attending classes and people back at work.
A friend of ours who had returned to her hometown (about 40 miles from Quy Nhon) to weather out the storm with her family brought back this random and kind of sad story: An old man who lived down the road from her kept 100 pigs on his little farm. As the rains started to fall, he didn't pay much attention--this is Vietnam and it rains a lot here, after all. But by 9 PM the water had risen quickly and washed all of his pigs downriver. A single sow was saved by a man who somehow either hauled it into his boat or towed it to shore. He took it back to the old man and sold it to him for 200,000 VND, or about $12.

And now, if you're not tired of storm videos yet, here's what things looked like from our perspective...

Tropical Storm Mirinae - Quy Nhon, Vietnam from Steven Shetterly on Vimeo.

Typhoon video

A short video of Typhoon Ketsana as seen from Quy Nhon--before, during and after. Not quite CNN quality, but you get the picture. (If you're reading this on Facebook you probably don't see the video. Click here to go to it.)

All quiet on the eastern front

Well, that was interesting.

We are alive and quite well after a slight grazing by Typhoon Ketsana. The storm rolled ashore around midmorning, 200 miles to our north, and I'll tell you what--I wouldn't have wanted to be any closer. (If you look closely, you can see "Qui Nhon" down on the bottom half of that big orange-looking storm).


Starting around sundown yesterday, the wind started howling and growling as the storm approached land, and didn't really let up until midafternoon today. Joelle contemplated heading out to the market this morning during a short lull, but abandoned that idea once things really started kicking. It was a good choice, as a ride around town late this afternoon showed--trees all over town had been snapped and tossed before the wind.

During one particularly fierce gust this morning we heard a crash next to our apartment, followed by a sustained chorus of high pitched Vietnamese girl-shrieks. We walked out on our balcony to see what had happened--an 18-inch diameter tree standing in the middle of the students' bike parking lot had snapped and fallen right in the midst of the crowded lot with students all around. It smashed a few bicycles but, to everyone's great relief, no students. Shortly after that, classes were cancelled for the day and the students headed quickly home to ride out the rest of the storm.


Something I had anticipated which didn't materialize (thankfully) was a big storm surge. Our apartment is about 200 yards from the beach and I half expected to see saltwater spray outside our front door this morning. No such luck.

Da Nang and places north of here didn't fare as well. Around 2 dozen people are confirmed dead already and that number will probably rise as news comes out from the more remote areas. Keep them in your thoughts.

I'll end with a collage of the storm's aftermath (click on it for a larger version). Take care, everyone, and stay dry!

Storm update

It's about 11:30 pm (past our bedtime) but we're awake listening to the wind howl outside. After a lull this afternoon, the wind picked up again this evening. There have been some good gusts so far but nothing more severe than a typical stormy November day in Washington.

However, the same can't be said of our friends and teammates, the Farnums, who flew from Hanoi to Da Nang the other day to celebrate their wedding anniversary at a nice beachside resort. Da Nang happens to be directly in the path of the approaching storm--currently a Category 2 with winds around 100+ mph. They've been moved out of their cabin on the beach and put in a hotel about a football field's length away from the beach where they can watch the whole thing go down.

Also, the parents of Mo ("Muh"), a student that Joelle and I got to know last year, live right in the same area. Their house floods regularly as it is, and it looks like this one's going to be worse than normal. She sent Joelle a message this evening telling her that she's very worried for her family. (You can read about our visit to her family's house last year here.) Please keep Vietnam in general and especially the Farnums and Mo's family in your thoughts over the next few days here!

More updates as time, internet and electricity availability allow...

Typhoon Ketsana

Well, the tropical storm which just dumped 13 inches of rain on Manila has beefed itself up to a Category 1 typhoon and is now bearing down on Vietnam's central coast. Currently it's still a ways out at sea but the winds have kicked up and the rain has definitely started.

It's predicted to make landfall near Da Nang, about 200 miles north of us, with 70 to 90 mph winds and lots of rain. The effects here in Quy Nhon shouldn't be nearly as bad. For us, any troubles we experience will probably come from rainfall. It's kind of interesting (and a little scary) to watch the swells roll into the bay here, though. Quy Nhon itself is in a fairly well-protected little cove, but looking out across the bay you can see where the waves roll full-force into the rocks. Powerful stuff--and this is from a fairly weak system a couple hunred miles away.

I'll end with the requisite picture of a palm tree blowing in the wind, and a promise to keep you all updated if anything exciting should happen.