With the megacity of Shanghai rarely impacted by tropical storms, September’s Typhoon Bebinca was a relatively unprecedented event for the NYU Shanghai community. The typhoon made landfall in Shanghai in the early hours of Monday, September 16, with wind speeds of approximately 151 kph (94 mph). As heavy rain and wind impacted NYU Shanghai’s Qiantan campus and the Jingyao Residential Hall, shuttle service was suspended, all in-person classes were canceled and students were advised to stay in their rooms.

Despite the precautions taken, some buildings of Jingyao Residence Hall suffered water damage, and students were unable to order food and supplies as usual, leading many Residential Assistants (RAs) to go above and beyond to help out NYU Shanghai’s community. In addition to Campus Safety and 师傅 (shi fu, qualified workers), “Each of the 30 RAs also worked really hard to make sure their floor was taken care of,” RA Catherine said. She and another RA, Luke, indicated that flooding and leaking were major issues during the typhoon. While “all the towers had water in the hallways,” RA Catherine reported that Tower 2 and Tower 3 bore the brunt of the damage, as there was “flooding in some rooms” and “the balconies and windows were leaking in lots of water and residents were really concerned.” Luckily, some RAs provided crucial assistance, with RA Luke saying, “I did help some people clean up their flooding room and get things to safety before they were completely flooded.”

Another concern was the students who needed necessities delivered to them but were unable to use their normal delivery services, or did not feel comfortable braving the extreme weather conditions. Such deliveries were easy to coordinate via the social messaging app WeChat, with RA Catherine saying, “I just reached out to a few of my larger group chats and offered to run to H-Life, Burger King, and Holy Bagel if anyone needed food or towels.” The real challenge was facing the chaos outside.

While the immediate area of Jingyao was moderately windy, on the street outside the Residential Hall, “the wind really picked up and began to get difficult to walk against,” Luke reports. In addition, he says the heavy rain “hurt in a way similar to hail, since the wind speeds were so high,” and had raised the water level of the nearby Huangpu River “maybe 6-7 feet higher than what it normally is.”

Both RAs pointed out the physical damage Typhoon Bebinca caused in and around Jingyao, which ranged from some objects tossed around by the winds to entire structures being near-ruined. “A couple of the guard stations tipped over and broke, and tree branches, signs, bikes, and other things had blown over and been scattered around the community,” Catherine says. “The glass back of the little station where guards let [students] in was shattered,” Luke adds.

Typhoon Bebinca eventually departed Shanghai by the end of September 16 and headed westward into Jiangsu province, and safety precautions had been lifted by Tuesday, September 17. Shanghai is rarely in the direct path of strong tropical storms, marking Bebinca as one of the few to affect our campus, but the willingness of a few RAs to offer critical support proves that NYU Shanghai’s community can weather through many challenges, no matter how severe. “I always try my best to be helpful in any stressful situation if I can; sometimes people just need help or a friendly face to reassure them that everything will be okay.” Catherine says.