Freakish weather

Last Saturday, 22nd July 2006, damansara heights area was hit by strong winds.... just as i was leaving the office.

yours truly was in the lobby when it all started... first the wind was so strong that it blew open both the side doors to enter the building... the 2 security guards were pushing it with their body to keep it closed while the maintenance guy was busy picking up the huge vase and all those cut flowers.

was kicking myself as i could have left some 10 mins before the rain and wind. decided there's no way for me to walk to my car which was parked some 3 mins walk away in this kind of weather.

headed to the bakery to buy some buns and thought i could just head back to the office with some buns to wait for the rain to stop. as i stepped into the bakery, the rain & wind became stronger to the extent that the glass windows at the bakery were rattling. When the awning from the bakery's other entrance came crashing down, that's the time i ran out of the bakery for cover.

The lobby of the building was already full of water. my 2 other colleagues who came down together with me were no longer around and that's when the sliding door to the building came off. I hurried myself to the nearest safest place that i could think of and that's the mailing room. the mailing room has no windows. there i found one of the colleagues there hiding. every now and then the 2 of us would peep out. the candelier above us was swinging like a pendulum. the guards were no longer around. everyone went into hiding. for the next few minutes, we can hear the loud howling noise from the wind.

when things have calmed down a little, we came out from our hiding and went up to the office to 'hide'. we dare not take the lift but instead walked up the stairs. thank goodness the office is located on the 3rd floor and not the penthouse.

To our shocked and horror as we step into the office, one section of our ceiling has fallen off, the sprinkler system hanging there like it will go off anytime soon. one of the window was blown off.

in the next half hour or so, we were busy moving all our electronics equipment away... hiding it beneath the table and away from the windows. you never know when the sprinker might go off.

thank goodness baby and jody came to rescue me. when i reached the car, i found out that the car is alright. *phew*. but the strangest thing was all the windows in the car were fogged up badly... like what i experienced during winter time.

next day, while reading the papers, i found out that a car parked at my usual spot was crushed by a fallen tree... imagine if only i went to work early/on time and/or got myself a park there instead.

ok... what i have said above is not fiction. am no fiction writer.

the aftermath: found out that the wind ripped off a wall and a door from the office next door to ours. the tables and chairs in the bakery were flying everywhere. our window flew some 60 metres away into next building's compound, stopped by the grilled fence. trees along jalan duta snapped like matchsticks. one metal signage on sri hartamas - jln duta road was wrapped around the beam.

here's some pictures...