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Typhoon In mid-September 1977, eighteen years after I was there, much of the island's structures were leveled by what was called a super typhoon. Here is a quote from the weather service about this: The greatest damage from super typhoon Babe occurred after she recurved and headed for Japan. Newspaper reports described Babe as “the worst typhoon to threaten Japan in 18 years”. Babe struck the Japanese island of Okino-Erabu with winds of 135 kts (155 mph) injuring 45 people and destroying 1600 homes.
 So, farming communities such as this pleasant picture taken in 1959 are gone now—literally blown away—to be replaced by concrete block or sturdy wood framed structures. It is interesting that many of my photographs in 1959 look like abandoned places, because the homeowners hid when we came into view.  Very little transportation was motorized in 1959. and there were few paved roads. Scenes like this of a farmer taking some of his produce down the hill would be rare today, on the re-built Okino, because many are using motorized carts or motorcycles and small trucks. In August of 1959, I was in two severe typhoons, which hit back-to-back: Ellen and Georgia. Southern Japan got up to 35 inches of rainfall with winds up to 105 miles per hour. We usually just holed up until the storm passed, but with the two storms together like that, as restless young men we got a little bit of cabin fever, and decided to venture outside. We could not stand upright, and got very wet, but nevertheless decided to build a kite! A kite? Yes. Out of heavy canvas tarp, 2x4 lumber, and RG-58 communications cable. It took us an hour or so to construct it, then three of us hefted it up off the floor and, holding on to it tightly, took it outside. The wind ripped it out of our hands before we were ready. One of the guys suffered burns on his palms as the cable was torn through his hands. Our "kite" went up about 10 feet and immediately crashed down into the sandy soil about 30 feet away, burying its nose 12 inches into the ground. Despite being a scary experience, we all laughed and jokingly decided the kite just needed a little tail. We went back inside where it was safe, thoroughly drenched, but exhilarated. |
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