Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment a meteorologist struggles to hold onto a weather balloon in gale-force winds that nearly send him flying off a building.
The staff member with the Fuzhou Meteorological Bureau in Fujian Province in East China was waiting for the opportune moment to begin measuring Typhoon Bailu.
The 11th typhoon to affect China this year made landfall in the county of Dongshan on 25th August, carrying wind speeds measuring up to 90 kph (56 mph) – or 10 on the Beaufort scale.
Now video from the Huai’anshan Weather Station shows just how difficult it was to ensure the balloon rose safely into the atmosphere instead of being blown sideways into another structure.
In the video, the staff member stands on the building’s roof while clutching the balloon which is being blown every which way.
He holds on to it for over a minute – very nearly being carried off the roof – before finally releasing it when the winds momentarily die down.
The Fuzhou Meteorological Bureau called the scenes “a common occurrence”.
The Chinese government had already evacuated some 50,000 people before the storm made landfall in mainland China on 25th August, with Bailu having already touched down on the island of Taiwan a day before.
Hundreds of rescue teams are on standby as the typhoon moves further inland.
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