Using real-life footage from Asian typhoons of recent years, including from Haiyan, Utor and Morakot, the Hong Kong Observatory has created a video, that is – dare we say – as terrifying as it is entertaining.
Narrated by a man with a distinctly drawling northern English accent (and strangely also subtitled, not very accurately, in English), the public service video talks us through the various dangers posed by typhoons, namely strong winds, rainstorms, huge waves and storm surges.
Each danger has its own section, with images of motorcycles crashing to the ground, a car almost being crushed by a rock the size of a house, a fearless photographer being swept off a rock, and the petrifying tsunami-like surges of Typhoon Haiyan.
“Run from the water, hide from the wind, and keep away from killer waves,” the film advises in huge red letters.
The video was produced on behalf of the United Nations, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia, and the Pacific/World Meteorological Organisation Typhoon Committee. It premiered at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan, in March and is now being shown internationally.
Obviously the message is serious and the warning important, but is it just us, or does this conjure up memories of Silent Majority’s fear-mongering video about the possible impact of last year’s Occupy Central protests?
It’s nice to know those guys are getting some work.
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