The Morning after Super Hurricane Mangkhurt passed by HK

After killing some dozens of people in the Philippines, the super hurricane made its way towards HK.

Fortunately, it passed by 100 km of us. However, with an enormous circulation radius of around 900 km, an eye radius of 50 km and a wind speed of over 200 km/h, it has done a lot of damages to HK.

Signal no. 10, the highest signal, was hoisted for 10 hours.

There were lots of flooding in the low lying areas. Several blocks of residential buildings have seen waves rising to several stories high before their windows. The nearby shopping complex was flooded and the electricity / water supply to these several blocks were disrupted even till now.

Many residents complained of feeling discomfort as their apartments swayed in the wind and their hanging lights swinging to and fro. One video showing a tall residential building swayed noticeably under the typhoon went viral.

Many trees have fallen (over 17,000 big trees were reported to have fallen), blocking many roads and pavements. All transport came to a halt. There was a lot of chaos as one major section of the MTR was out of operation. Meanwhile, 2000 flights needed to be rescheduled.

A tower crane for tall building construction fell, some roof coverings were ripped out. Many windows and facade have broken, rain and wind that came through the windows have left those flats and offices ravished.

Many coastal park and amenity areas were destroyed. Boats are grounded and even one barge sank.

Luckily, there were no landslides nor deaths; around 400 people were injured.

The government here has done a good job, stepping up measures and advising / coercing people in low lying areas to leave and hastily cut out some weak tree branches beforehand.

My roof was flooded as leaves/ grits blocked the gratings. Three trees planted on my roof toppled. There was also seepage problems in my flat too.

Climate Change has really arrived. I argue with my classmate who is influential in the government / building sector that the design gust wind speed for one in 50 years has got to be upgraded. For a couple of hours, there was a lot of toing and froing in the chat group – that helped me spending the time before sleep. I know I am doing the right thing.

The mega bridge from HK to Zhuhai and Macau has a design wind speed of 432km/h, it is a bridge of high economic value. Our high rises, which has a high life content, are designed to 200+ km/ h. In my view, it should be upgraded to account for the now apparent Climate Change effects.

I know I have a clear conscience. Went to bed, woke up and took this photo outside my window.

It looks gloomy, but I know I am starting a new day 🙂