Hong Kong reopens after world’s most powerful cyclone Ragasa

Hong Kong resumed flights out of its international airport on Thursday after a 36-hour suspension, reopening businesses, transportation services and some schools after the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year lashed the financial hub.

Ragasa brought the densely populated city to a standstill from Tuesday afternoon, after sweeping through the northern Philippines and Taiwan where it killed 14, before making landfall on the southern Chinese city of Yangjiang on Wednesday.

More than 100 people were injured in Hong Kong, where authorities imposed the highest typhoon signal 10 for most of Wednesday.

On Thursday, the observatory maintained its second-lowest typhoon signal 3, keeping kindergartens and some schools shut as Ragasa moved away from the city and weakened into a tropical storm.

Huge waves crashed over areas of Hong Kong’s eastern and southern shoreline on Wednesday, with widespread flooding submerging some roads and residential properties.

Seawater surged through the Fullerton hotel on the island’s south, shattering glass doors and inundating the lobby. No injuries were reported and the hotel said services were operating as normal.

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said airlines would gradually resume flights starting from 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Thursday, with all three runways operating simultaneously.

“It is anticipated that flights will be scheduled until late into late night tomorrow, handling over 1,000 flights at the normal level,” it said, adding that it expected airport operations to be busy on Thursday and Friday.

Authorities said they were urgently repairing collapsed roads, trying to clear more than 1,000 fallen trees and respond to around 85 cases of flooding.

Prior to Ragasa’s arrival authorities handed out sandbags on Monday for residents to bolster their homes in low-lying areas, while many people stockpiled daily necessities, leading to bare supermarket shelves and surging fresh vegetable prices.

Source: Reuters 

- Agencies