Typhoons (台风) in the northern part of the world have girls' names.Sometimes they have very
beautiful names.Rose is a pretty name but there was nothing pretty about Typhoon Rose.It was the worst typhoon to hit Hong Kong in ten years.
It began to rain in the morning of Monday,August 16th,1971.At ten o'clock in the morning,Typhoon Rose was still 130 miles away but already the wind was blowing people's umbrella away.The wind became stronger and stronger.The typhoon shelters (避风港) were soon full of boats.Ships that were too big to go inside the shelters put down more anchors (锚).Some very big shops went out to sea.It is safer for a big shop to be at sea in a typhoon because it cannot be blown onto rocks.Kai Tak Airport closed.No planes were able to take off or land.At 9:00 in the evening,all the lights went out.
No one slept well that night.It is difficult to sleep in such bad weather.
In Typhoon Rose,more than one hundred people died.229 people were hurt and 66 of these had to go to hospital.1500 lost their homes.The people of Hong Kong will not quickly forget Typhoon Rose!