Like death, everyone knew Typhoon Usagi was heading for us. We all hoped it would swerve away from us in another direction at the last minute. Some were scared, others intrigued by the fascination of disaster. What might it be like? Shopkeepers were happy with the rush of panic-buying and they, of course, had seen it all before. Children and people who did not like their jobs were looking forward to a couple of days off, which happens when nature overwhelms civilisation. Where there is trouble, journalists gather and CNN had sent in a special crew to cover the story of the world’s biggest storm of the year. Travelling at 110mph and nearly 700 miles in diameter, the super typhoon roared its way between the Philippines and Taiwan, where, in a couple of hours, it dropped three times