Higos spares HK from large-scale damage

Hong Kong has so far been spared from any large scale disruption or damage to life and property in the wake of Typhoon Higos.

Seven people – five men and two women – sought medical treatment at public hospitals during the typhoon period, the Hospital Authority said.

The HA also said, as of 5pm, five of them have been discharged from the hospitals, while two remains under treatment in stable condition.

There were also 52 reports of fallen trees to the Government Call Centre at 1823 and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

The Drainage Services Department has confirmed two reports of flooding. 

There are no reports of landslides.

The Home Affairs Department opened 25 temporary shelters in various districts at which 103 people sought refuge.

Although Higos’s impact on Hong Kong was limited, it still caused a yacht to drift from a typhoon shelter into the sea. 

At 6:54am this morning, a yacht which was parked in Shuen Wan Typhoon shelter in Tai Po drifted 500 metres into the sea after the ropes keeping it secure were suspected to have loosened due to the strong wind.

A woman and two children who were trapped inside the yacht called emergency services.

Marine police arrived at the scene afterwards, and found out that the three were safe and did not need further assistance.

Meanwhile, two bands of burglars took advantage of the typhoon and broke into two dried seafood shops in Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung at 2am this morning. Nearly HK$1 million worth of dried seafood went missing.

According to the police report, a store on Hoi Pa Street reported a burglary at 3am. Over HK$900,000 worth of products were found to have been stolen after preliminary investigation.

Police are currently looking for four men of medium build who were all wearing caps, masks and gloves at the time of the incident.

Residents of two coastal blackspots for flooding during typhoon were finally able to relax after all typhoon signals were cancelled.

Citizens living in squatters in Lei Yue Mun stacked sandbags at the coastline last night to stop their houses being flooded, like they did when Typhoon Mangkhut struck Hong Kong in 2018.

Residents said: “We were very fortunate that Higos was not that strong and did not cause strong waves at the sea, therefore we were unaffected.”

Residents of Heng Fa Tsuen also sighed in relief despite the strong waves yesterday morning as Higos skirted Hong Kong.

The winds prostrated a six-meter high tree at the housing estate, rubbish trash was seen all over the street in the district.

The housing estate had also put in place iron panels to stop water from flooding into a playground near the coast and an underground carpark in the estate, both of which usually flood during typhoons.

On a separate note, according to information from the Observatory, Higos was the fourth fastest typhoon to skirt Hong Kong.

The Observatory said Higos only took 21 hours and 50 minutes to go from the issuing standby signal No. 1 to the second highest typhoon signal, No. 9.

The fastest was a typhoon in 1949, which only affected Hong Kong for around 13 hours.

The Observatory issued the first Typhoon No. 8 of the year at 10:40pm last night and issued a typhoon No. 9 around three hours later.

It went back to No. 8 at 7:40am this morning, and the Strong Wind Signal No. 3 was issued at 11:10 am.