The storm mentioned last post made a direct hit on Danang. There they suffered many uprooted trees, light structures demolished and roofs damaged. While we were seeing crops and trees damaged from the train heading north, our friends from home were coming south on another train from Hanoi and due to check in to the hotel an hour before us. Unfortunately the major damage was north of Danang, and while we arrived on time we were surprised to arrive at our hotel in Hoi An and have the staff say "where are your friends?". The train from Hanoi had many delays and they eventually arrived at midnight after 29 hours on the train (and several meals of instant noodles).

Around Hoi An there was a lot of minor damage (our hotel lost some roof tiles) and the streets were cluttered with debris. The sky was a bit grey, the river was almost up over the road, but the rest os the stay was enjoyable. It was lovely to meet up with friends from home and be able to take them back to see our town.

However that storm was only half way through the typhoon season which sees around 20 storms come through each year. We've had a couple more since then.

Typhoon Haiyan was of course the big one. The Philippines bore the brunt of it (like they usually do) and suffered terribly. We were tracking it's progress online for the previous week (like we usually do), and could see it was headed straight for us in Quang Ngai. It was so big that even after being depleted it would still be dangerous by the time it got here. Locals were busy stocking up, cleaning up and sandbagging roofs. Selling sandbags became quite a little industry with enterprising souls filling bags from piles delivered to the footpath outside their houses. We filled a few buckets with water (no bath) in case the water went out, I made sure all the washing and ironing was up to date in case the power went out and we generally readied ourselves as best we could. We didn't think we'd likely sustain damage or flooding where we are, but were concerned about loss of power, water, etc and how long that might last. As it happened the typhoon took a last minute turn northwards and passed us by - we escaped with some heavy rain.

It actually turned out the next storm a week later had a more devastating effect in Vietnam. Sustained heavy rain caused deaths from widespread flooding around the centre - exacerbated by the release of water from the hydro dams in the hills. We know locals who lost crops and stock or spent days cleaning mud from their houses.

It all brings home to me what people here - people in many parts of the world - have to cope with regularly. We hear all about the major disasters (and they are terrible) but for every one of them there are many we don't hear of, less devastating but nonetheless heartbreaking for many others - who simply pick themselves up and start over again.