The most powerful tropical cyclone so far this year passed through Hong Kong and Macao on Wednesday before landing in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, leaving a trail of destruction and several casualties in the two neighboring special administrative regions. In Hong Kong more than 120 people were injured while five died and two went missing in Macao when Typhoon Hato hit with gale-force winds and torrential rain in the morning. Our condolences go to the families of the deceased. It was definitely one of those trying times and it is fair to say Hong Kong did itself proud handling the nasty test.

The city is no stranger to typhoons of this magnitude but Hato is no doubt one of the worst in recent years, forcing the Hong Kong Observatory to issue the No 10 gale warning, the highest on its list of dangerous weather conditions. In addition to water-logged low-lying places and landslides, there were many broken trees and windows as well, with some households forced to take temporary shelter on higher ground, but many people believed the damage could have been much worse had the Observatory not had a close watch on the movement of the mighty cyclone and kept the public informed throughout the harrowing hours.

Also deserving our respect and gratitude are the firefighters and police officers, who did their best, as always, helping people in distress.

As a result of the extreme weather no public transport was available on roads until about 5 pm but many services remained open despite various difficulties and even danger, including government departments concerned, law-enforcement personnel, security guards, many retail shops and restaurants and of course hospital staff. Underground sections of the MTR were in operation as usual while many taxis and minibuses resumed service as soon as possible before the double-decker buses did. And how can we forget our media colleagues who braved gale-force winds and flying debris to record and report on Hato's wrath. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to all those who kept the city running and local residents' daily lives as normal as possible despite the terrible weather.

In comparison, Macao sustained much worse damage this time because it was right in the path of Hato, which went ashore at Zhuhai, Macao's northern neighbor, which saw the highest red warning for the first time in years. In addition to widespread flooding, fallen trees and exterior damage to buildings Macao also lost power in many neighborhoods and city blocks. As the people of Macao prepare for post-typhoon cleaning up and rebuilding if necessary, we wish them the best in making a speedy recovery. We have no doubt the people of Hong Kong are ready to help in whatever way they can.

(HK Edition 08/24/2017 page8)