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Last Updated on Monday, 04 January 2010 21:42 Written by Roger Hill

2007

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After much deliberation, my friend Stuart Robinson from England and I headed to the far east to chase our first typhoon, Super Typhoon Krosa (which means "crane"). All indications were that it would make landfall as a Category 4 storm, somewhere near Taiwan. We jumped on our planes and flew there to get into place before flights were cancelled. As I flew into Taiwan, we flew over the northern portion of the typhoon. It was a bumpy flight I'll not soon forget!

Our plan was to head to the eastern coast and get into the northern eyewall and then the eye as it made landfall. On the morning of the 6th, we did just that. Unfortunately as the typhoon made landfall, it was deflected south, the back out to sea and then across the northern tip of Taiwan. The deflection took its toll on the typhoon. We had winds up to 120 MPH gust, sustained in the 95-100 MPH range. A serious weakening indeed. Nontheless, it was an experience I will not soon forget. Taiwan is a beautiful island off the coast of China with a grand history and beautiful scenery.  They escaped a potentially serious storm with only crop and ag damage, with some damage to buildings and power lines.

Check out the video here: SUPER TYPHOON KROSA (warning 19 MB file)

Click on the image for a larger size: Enjoy!

Stu leaning out against 80-90 mph winds.	Intense waves and surge developing early Oct 6 morning.
Waves coming over the top of the building.	Sea was churned up pretty badly, crashing on shore.
Hurricane force winds slammed 30 foot high  waves into sea structures.	Winds well over 100 mph blinded us along the coastal highway.
Debris in the city of Techung.	Downed power lines and trees Nanfung.
Lots of "tin" ripped apart.	A woman coming out on the street to see the damage to her home.
After the typhoon departed Oct 7, waves were still crashing on shore up to 15 feet high.	The sea was still full of foam as waves continued to crash on shore.