The island has its own rhythm of life. I had no way to picture, before coming to the island, how intertwined our lives would be with weather. One morning the sky is sunny, suddenly it’s covered with clouds and thick fog, bringing rain and wind. Phu Quoc have entered the year-end storm season for more than a month now.
I often bemoan the fact that I have no way to predict rain, and have a certain envy for those in sync with the atmosphere or phone’s weather app. So I'm very impressed with the aunties and uncles on the island. They not only predict rainy days, but also know how to "read" the sky through the clouds. On days when the sky is red in the morning, indicating that a storm system may be moving, and rain is on its way. Or days with Mares tails clouds shaped like lackluster check marks scattered in the sky signal that a storm is approaching.
(Photo by Ái Đi Lạc)
Even though the storm was predicted to, life on the island was still greatly affected. It’s a challenge for everyone to face. When there is low pressure or storms, high seas, speedboats do not run and sometimes it is difficult for planes to take off or land. So it's understandable that there are no tourists this season. If there were, the canoe wouldn't be able to take guests out, and guests would also be stuck on the island. Outside the island, people make a living from tourism. With storms coming and no tourists, they struggle to make a living. In a two-season year, they spend 8 months doing business, and the remaining 4 months to endure storms.
Storms are not the “culprit”. That's just Mother Nature's work to balance things out. But today's harsh and unpredictable storms are the result of our own destruction of nature, causing environmental change. If people do not protect themselves by keeping the ecosystem balanced, they will gradually lose beautiful scenery and even endanger life. Seeing the storm, predicting the storm, so how to reduce storm damage? The answer lies with us.
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