More Weather Talks
Yesterday was LiQui立秋 being the 13th solar term on the Chinese calendar. It marked the end of summer and the beginning of autumn in East Asian cultures. This year, it falls in a leap month and thus augers added meanings and traditions. Following the heavy rainstorms earlier in the week, we had banner headlines in the printed media on the highest daily rainfall in August which had caused flooding and landslides, disruption to public services and closures of businesses. The Observatory had recorded close to 360 mm rainfall by 5pm on Tuesday, the highest daily figure in August since records began in 1884. We were also reminded that that was the second longest black rainstorm warning on record, since the warning system was introduced in 1992, after the one in September 2023 which lasted for more than 16 hours. Nevertheless, we had the black rainstorm warning issued four times between the two last Tuesdays, which must have set another record. So much for weather talks, as if we had not had enough.
But there were a few rainstorms that had left lasting memories in me. First, there was the rainstorm in 1956 – probably in June – which resulted in the stone hut in Holy Cross Path Village where the family lived being declared uninhabitable by the authorities, resulting in the family members having to be relocated and scattered. I had mentioned the episode in my autobiography. The second one was Typhoon Wanda in 1962 which made landfall on Hong Kong on 1 September causing much damage. I was then in Wah Yan. The third was in respect of the rainstorm in 1966, again in June, which resulted in the closure of the three residential halls – Lugard, Elliot and May – at HKU which was subsequently refurbished and reorganized to become the Old Halls, of which I was a founder resident in 1969, but which had since closed following the demolition of Lugard Hall in 1992. Then in June 1972, a period of exceptionally heavy rainfall in Hong Kong triggered a series of devastating landslides, particularly in the Mid-Levels area, including Kotewall Road with the most severe rainfall occurring between June 16th and 18th, with a three-day total of 652mm. This event, known as the 6.18 Disaster, became the darkest day in Hong Kong’s landslide history. The intense rainfall led to the collapse of a 12-story building, Kotewall Court, killing 67 people, according to some media reports. I was involved in an emergency relief operation as I was then an Executive Officer in the Social Welfare Department.
Back to LiQui yesterday, we woke up to a bright and pleasant day and as I looked out at the plants in the balcony, I noticed our beloved 萬年青 had flowered. This plant, with the botanical name Dieffenbachia seguine and widely known as dumbcane or leopard lily, belongs to the Araceae Family in the Plant Kingdom. Members of the Araceae family typically have a spadix which is a type of inflorescence having small flowers borne on a fleshy stem, typically surrounded by a leaf-like curved bract known as a spathe, like a sheath. I learnt all these as an undergrad because I had Botany as a major. Back to the plant, Su recalled that it was a gift from her colleague some 20 years ago or more when he was moving offices or something and couldn’t find a home for it. She left it at her flat’s rooftop on Park Road and brought it to Mei Foo when we moved here in 2013. It flourished all these years on its own, but had never flowered. During Wipha, it was almost blown away had Su not secured it against the window. It survived the hurricane and developed some buds. Now, one of them blossomed; and Su read from the internet that it was a good omen and should bode well for the owners.
Still on weather talks, we had a long dim sum session last Tuesday at the about-to-close Metropol Restaurant. We had agreed a week before to eat there with my niece’s close friend Jean to mark her birthday, the foul weather was unbeknown to us then. Early in the morning, the Observatory had forecast that the black rainstorm warning would persist at least to 9am, suggesting that traffic would be heavy afterwards. To avert that situation, Su decided to venture out early – shortly after 8am – arriving at the restaurant shortly after 9am after a detour to Pacific Place from some pastries to double as a birthday cake. It was dark and raining heavily, as the Observatory began to extend the black rainstorm warning, time and again. Once safely seated and dry, Su began to call up my niece. She arrived in an hour and began to call up her brother and father, so that by noon, we had six on the table and still eating. The rest of course is history.
We ended up last night at another session of wine education – this time on champagne and sparkling wine. More to come.
