Leif - Japan Typhoon Aftermath (Funny)

We had a very heavy thunderstorm here this afternoon and the torrents of rain, the wind, lightning and thunder, reminded me of the typhoon we experienced in Japan. I think it was 1982.

We were living near Camp Zama, about an hour's train ride from Tokyo, in the Sagamihara Family Housing Area, way at the back near a gate that was always locked. The street went through, but we couldn't.

The typhoon wasn't dangerous in our area, just dumped incredible quantities of water, and when the rain had mostly passed, our sons headed outside to check out the situation.

The street in front of our house was completely flooded. Leif, who was about 7 years old, was out in his yellow rain slicker. He tried to ride his bike, but that obviously wasn't going to work in that deep water.

Then he and his brother, Peter Anthony, decided to blow up an inflatable boat they had and try that out. That was a lot more successful, but it looked so funny to see Leif out there in the rain (it had slowed, but now stopped) in a raincoat with and umbrella that we took pictures. The base newspaper printed them.

Our other adventure with a typhoon in Japan came when our household goods were being packed for our move from Japan to Hawaii. The moving truck drove right up to our door to try to get packed boxes into it without them getting soaked, but that was unsuccessful. We had a lot of things ruined by mold and mildew when we unpacked them on the other end, especially anything wool or leather, and some photo albums were all stuck together.

The moving truck got stuck in the mud in front of the house and they had to get nother truck to pull it out.

All in all, though, we were fortunate not to have any real damage from typhoons. I hope we will be as lucky in Florida with the hurricanes!