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| Water barriers set up near the Lei Yue Mun pier (HK Free Press photo) |
The Hong Kong Observatory has lowered Hurricane Signal No 10 to 8 at 1:20pm today, Wednesday, as Super Typhoon Ragasa spared the city from a direct hit, passing 120km around the south of Hong Kong earlier this morning.
However, forecasters warned the public to remain alert, saying strong winds are still affecting many places of the territory.
They also said the T8 signal will remain in place until 8pm tonight, and depending on how local winds weaken in the next few hours, it will be lowered to T3, which means all public transportation will resume service.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Ragasa brought with it wind gusts exceeding 200 km per hour to some exposed and offshore areas, but the bigger part of the city only experienced around 100 km/hr winds.
Despite warnings that Ragasa was stronger than Super Typhoon Mangkhut which wreaked extensive havoc in Hong Kong in 2018, the number of fallen trees this time appeared smaller, and reports of flooding and landslide were far lower.
As of noon today, authorities received 437 reports
of fallen trees while 15 reports of flooding, and one of landslide were
recorded at 1pm.
A total of 62 people had sought treatment at public hospitals for various injuries as of noon.
This was despite photos and videos on social media showing major storm surges in coastal areas, including Victoria Harbour, Tai Po Kau and Tsim Bei Tsui where water levels rose up to 3.8 meters.
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| Man looks helplessly as waves crashed through the glass doors of Ocean Park Fullerton |
A video that has gone viral showed waves crashing through the glass door of The Ocean Park Fullerton Hotel beside Ocean Park in Aberdeen, and a man in the lobby being washed away by the floodwaters.
However, the hotel later said no one was injured in the incident, and that it has immediately deployed additional staff to clean up the debris brought by the floodwaters. It has also assured that all its guests are safe and comfortable.
Ragasa caused the T10 signal to remain hoisted for 10 hours and 40 minutes, just 20 minutes shorter than the longest T10 ever raised for Typhoon York in 1999.
The super typhoon caused T8 to be raised at 2:20pm yesterday, then elevated to T9 at 2:20am today, before being raised further to T10 at 3:20am.
