10 Typhoon Mangkhut (September 7–17, 2018)
We’re sure super typhoon Mangkhut is still fresh in the minds of most Hongkongers. The tropical cyclone was labelled by the Hong Kong Observatory as the most powerful to have swept through the city since records began in 1946. A maximum tide of almost four metres was measured in Quarry Bay, and torrential rains left two dozen neighbourhoods half-submerged in water, among them the coastal areas of Heng Fa Chuen, Shek O, and Lei Yue Mun.
The No. 10 signal for Mangkhut lasted ten hours, just one less than the record-holding York. Residents were urged to stay indoors, and Hongkongers watched with bated breath as bamboo scaffolding outside buildings crumpled like toothpicks, skyscrapers swayed in the gales, tin roof structures were ripped off, windows of buildings were blown out, and parts of buildings even crumbled onto the streets below.
One of Mangkhut’s more striking effects was that more than 46,000 trees across the territories were uprooted, including some historic banyan trees. Despite the havoc wreaked in the city over the weekend, the majority of workers had to return to office the very next day. Social media feeds were inundated with commuters going to work on Monday amidst the chaos, some even having to clamber over felled trees and debris. Tai Wai MTR station, in particular, was shown to be absolutely jam-packed with commuters, with a line that trailed out the station and around the nearby roundabout.
The body of a middle-aged man was later found in waters off of Hoi Pong Street in Sai Kung, but it was not proven that he had died as a direct result of Mangkhut. The typhoon left Hong Kong with 458 reported injuries, and thankfully no deaths.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the city doesn’t see the likes of such natural fury again!