What I felt when the typhoon Mangkhut smashed Hong Kong
Typhoon Mangkhut raked the city here and there. Even though the name Mangkut comes from the mango, one kind of sweet Thai fruits, the aftermath of Mangkhut is quite horrible. When the No 10 signal remained in place between 9.40am and 7.40pm on Sunday, I went out twice to experience this mega typhoon in person. I saw the wind blew down the trees, the waves hit the shore, and many signs swung in the wind. When the raindrops hit my face, it hurt. Walking between buildings, I could hardly stand, let alone walk. It made me alert on the potential danger even while shooting footages. I looked around carefully and then moved on.
It reminded me vividly what I experienced in 2016. At the time, I worked as a local tv reporter in Kyung-Ju, which is known for its historic site. On September 12 in 2016, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake rocked Kyung-Ju. The quake was the most massive quake since records began in Korea. On my way home from work, I went back to work, took a camera with my fellow, and rushed to the scene. Without being taught, I was able to know what I do right away when the event happened. Fortunately, we captured the trembling moment with our camera. Afterward, my company started to establish a manual of the coverage of the disaster.
With past experience, I knew what to do as a journalist when the typhoon was coming: go out and survey what happen. I captured the scene at different times: a day before the storm arrived, when it arrived on, and a day after it passed by. I uploaded video footages I shoot on the new Facebook group created by the SCMP(South China Morning Post). I noticed that quite many people have shared the photos and videos on the page. It is a good way for The SCMP, which mainly features online news materials, to make readers join its group and feel a sense of belonging. It is the very interactive news format that today’s media try to develop.
