Typhoon and other updates
1. Grace will not be coming with me, she needs to stay in Taiwan for medical reasons. Those of you handsome bachlors - sorry!!
2. I, however, will arrive at Dulles on the 15th of July, and prob. be in Blacksburg either on the 17th or 18th. Looking forward to seeing you guys!!
A typhoon just hit Taiwan, 14 lives were lost in mudslide and flood. We have had more rain in the past three days than we normally would in a year. And obviously, no one is prepared for it. More than 80 mountain villages are left completely cut off by floods and mudslides, without any communications, running water or electricity. Infrastructure were severely damaged - ancient bridges that had been around for hundreds of years were washed away; landslides took place at 105 spots on the highway networks; five hydroelectric power plants were either flooded or covered by mudslides. The Council of Agriculture raised the estimated crop, fishery, poultry and infrastructure damage over NT$3.87 billion. Government officials blame people for improper cultivation on the mountains, yet no one talked about public policy on forest restoration, ecologically sound flood control.
I will be using both colleen@m2000.dhps.tp.edu.tw and colleen.jarrell@gmail.com. I am looking forward to classes in fall - though I am not sure how many classes I will be able to take. If my immigration statues gets fixed soon (since now I am married, I will be a resident instead of an international student), I will be able to afford more classes. If not, I'll probably take just one class and hope everything will be sorted out next spring.