Meanwhile Super Typhoon Chaba, Category 5, made landfall yesterday in South Korea with 220kph winds. Seems to be a big year for big weather.

Re Hurricane Matthew: an Australian's survival kit for same category storm:

If you are staying at home during the impact and wake of the storm.

Needs:

Lots of water in bottles, + fill bathtub to flush toilet and wash etc

lots of canned food,

lots of lamps or candles,

Power, water, , internet, phones, etc can be out for a week or sometimes 2 weeks.

a battery operated radio is good.

spare batteries.

a tank full of petrol.

all important digital info on usb sticks in waterproof bag.

all documents in heavy waterproof boxes.

Batten down, and best wishes.

PS when looking at the circle of the storm, on satellite, the winds are much higher /stronger at the top right quadrant than at the bottom.

Our storms here have the opposite rotation and so the big damage comes from the winds at the bottom left quadrant as they hit particular places.

Matthew, A Typhoon/Cyclone /Hurricane of Category 4 (a very high 12 on the Beaufort scale) is a significant typhoon. Last time I looked, the central pressure was 936, which is quite a significant Low...one wouldn't want it to get any lower than that. It does seem to be moving slowly, allowing folk to evacuate, which is good, but a slow moving event is also much more destructive as it tends to slow-grind and shred everything for a much longer impact-period of time. I wish folks well. As with cyclones here in Cairns, in tropical Australia, it is best not to be here with a Category 4 coming in, especially should it come in on a high tide. Yikes! Our building codes are matched to the impact of a moderate Cat 3 but a 4 is well beyond many structures, even brand new ones.

Matthew, A Typhoon/Cyclone /Hurricane of Category 4 (a very high 12 on the Beaufort scale) is a significant typhoon. Last time I looked, the central pressure was 936, which is quite a significant Low...one wouldn't want it to get any lower than that.

It does seem to be moving slowly, allowing folk to evacuate, which is good, but a slow moving event is also much more destructive as it tends to slow-grind and shred everything for a much longer impact-period of time. I wish folks well. As with cyclones here in Cairns, in tropical Australia, it is best not to be here with a Category 4 coming in, especially should it come in on a high tide. Yikes!

Our building codes are matched to the impact of a moderate Cat 3 but a 4 is well beyond many structures, even brand new ones.

Kind regards

Needs:

Lots of water in bottles, + fill bathtub to flush toilet and wash etc

lots of canned food,

lots of lamps or candles,

Power, water, phones, etc can be out for a week or sometimes 2 weeks.

a battery operated radio is good.

a tank full of petrol.

Kind regards and prayers for safety for Florida folk facing the hurricane. Category 4 is too big a storm.

the problem with being very good at grief counselling and with meeting the needs of people in 3 defined 50 minute sessions over a month is that they do end up feeling a lot better on the provision that they never ever see you again...and that's okay because if you do it well, they won't ever need to see you or anyone else again. Not a way to guarantee return business, for sure...nor spread the good word of holistic therapies etc...just simple human truths and simple good human care. Simple truths of life aren't very marketable at all, but they are the most important, the most honest, and the most positively revolutionary. Good grief counselling is much like being a sherpa and finding someone lost and half frozen in the Himalayas. You don't ask them how cold they feel, nor how they feel about being cold. You warm them up and show them how to get to where they need to be...1,2,3...and you walk a little while with them. I charge US$200 a 50 minute session, and in advance, because I know, after 3 sessions, they will be okay, they won't be back, and in future they will walk on the other side of the road to avoid me, and they won't pay their bill...but they will be just fine. That is very good grief counselling.

Remarkable Interconnections: Both KFC and McDonalds are selling off their thousands of stores in China at a great loss because the Chinese aren't buying the food anymore as a protest against the US Military provocations in the South China Sea. We are connected. Power to the People. Power is the People in the Peoples Republic of...People. Australia, you want us to buy your coal and your beef? I see you have a US Military Base in Darwin aimed at destroying China's sea trade routes to and from...Australia????...hmmm...Australian beef? Not so special-tasty anymore.

People Power:We see this kind of people movement in England with Brexit, and in the USA with even the half chance of Trump running for President...and in Colombia where the Government has worked out a peace with FARC revolutionaries after 50 years of horrible war...and sought a referendum to confirm peace. The people threw out the idea of peace altogether. These are remarkable days for people.