For those who traveled to Hong Kong for the 2008 Olympic equestrian events, August came in like a lion and is roaring out like a starving pride of beasts. An August 6 typhoon ushered in many people's arrival, and a real monster of a storm is ushering us out -- or, more accurately, preventing us from leaving.

As I write this, Typhoon Nuri is a T9 on the typhoon scale -- that's 9 out of a scale of 10, meaning that we're a baby step away from being a full-fledged hurricane, and probably will be so in a few hours when Nuri makes landfall smack-dab over Hong Kong.

The wind has been howling since this morning, and the rain is coming down hard. Needless to say, the storm is wreaking havoc on flight departures. My own flight, which was scheduled to leave late this evening, is currently delayed until mid-morning tomorrow. I imagine the same is true for any Olympic horses and riders who were supposed to leave today. I'll see what I can find out on that front.

For the moment, the media hotel has battened down the hatches and the town of Sha Tin has closed its doors; nothing is open. But the lights are on in the hotel (at least for now), and services appear to be functioning more or less as usual. I've asked the hotel if I can extend my stay by an extra night and they said yes, so it looks as if I'll have somewhere to sleep tonight. The local TV news showed footage of many stranded passengers at Hong Kong International Airport, so I'm glad I'm not stuck there. I guess this journey will be an adventure right to the very end!