I hope the typhoon did no serious damage today. The videos from the city looked like there might be some major cleanup needed.
Yes, we are save.
Hong Kong is well prepared when it comes to natural occurrences like Tropical Cyclones.
Houses are build to withstand earthquakes and storms, plus we usually know that something is coming well ahead so we can get ready. By law, every company/employer must follow the rules. So once signal number 8 is hoisted everything shuts down, and we got two hours to get home to safety. No public transport after that.
Usually, when there are victims during those storms, they are related to falling objects as people are stupid enough to wander the city during the worst of it just to see whats going on. Heart attacks during flooding in low-laying areas are common too. And when there are landslips then all bets are off regardless where you are (we do sometimes get 3 foot of rainfall in a couple of hours, but yesterday there was hardly any rain).
Any tree not in the best of health will succumb to the winds, so roads and pathways are blocked everywhere. On village level, everyone pitches in, and before number 8 came down, we had a clean village. Today its up to government-workers to remove the rest and clear it out of the area.
HATO usual damadge by
Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr
This time, there was little rain, flooding came mostly because the storm coincided wit high tides. So any low-laying area was easily flooded. Like the field here
HATO Flooded fields by
Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr
Just left of where the dog stands is a Seawall nearly/up to 10 feet tall, usually preventing flooding. This time, that was little use and the wall is underwater.
Street? What street?
Closer to the beach, things naturally look a bit less serene.
HATO Street, what street by
Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr
I waited more than an hour past the High Tide Mark to go down there. Wind, Fire are hazardous enough, but I do have tremendous respect for water. That thing can do bigger damage than the former two combined and there is nothing that one can do at all. Yet I saw several stupid people going to the beach in swimsuits and with surfboards. Hears several screaming people as they where swamped after getting to close to retreating waves only to be overcome by the succession of bigger waves following. I do not envy rescuers who have to put their own lives at risk for stupid behavior like that.
At high tide, the water would have come in at least 3 foot deeper.
HATO remnant of street by
Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr
Knowing that this bench is approximately 16 feet above high tide mark, and that high tide was at that moment already on the retreat, the storm-surge must have been as much as 20 feet above normal.
HATO Bench 16 feet above High Tide Mark by
Kainzer Kurt, on Flickr
So, when things like this go on, don't venture out, stay home and ride it out in a safe place. In the neighboring city of Macau we lost three lives (according to last nights report), things can still happen, but any presumed danger is minimal.
