Angry Winds Pound Miri

I was at home yesterday afternoon when a ferocious storm hit Miri. I guess you can say that Miri was hit by angry winds.

Before the storm broke, the sky had looked so foreboding with looming black clouds. Then the strong wind pounded the city. The heavens opened and the city was lashed by a heavy torrent of rain for about an hour or so.

The storm left a trail of destruction, with some cars hit by falling branches, signboards blown off and many trees uprooted. The pedestrian overhead bridge at the Miri City Council multi-storey car park was partially damaged. Traffic came to a standstill in some parts of the city when fallen trees blocked the roads.

The storm is due to the tail end effect of a major typhoon that is raging in the South China Sea near to mainland China.

By the time I left home to pick up my son, it was about 4.15pm. The storm had already abated though there was still a strong wind blowing. The rain had dwindled to a very light drizzle.

After passing the flyover near Boulevard Shopping Complex, traffic slowed to a snail’s crawl. I guessed immediately that there must be a fallen tree somewhere between the flyover and Pelita Commercial area.

I was right. A big tree in the Pelita roundabout had crashed, blocking part of the road. I saw some workers hard at work clearing the area.

Uprooted tree at Pelita roundabout

Workers clearing up the fallen tree

Traffic again started to snarl near Parkcity Everly Hotel all the way up the hill leading to Luak Bay. Fortunately for me, I used the small roundabout near Tanjong Seafood to turn to my son’s office to pick him up. People living in the Luak Bay area might be caught in the traffic jam for an hour or so and I feel lucky not to be party to that traffic jam.