HONG KONG – The bustling financial hub of Hong Kong began its return to normalcy on Thursday, resuming international flights and reopening businesses, transport services, and most schools after a 36-hour shutdown caused by Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world's most powerful tropical storm of the year.
The typhoon brought the densely populated city to a standstill from Tuesday afternoon, battering it with hurricane-force winds and torrential rain. The storm's passage has left a significant cleanup operation in its wake, with authorities working to clear fallen trees, repair damaged roads, and address widespread flooding.
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| A tree lies toppled by Super Typhoon Ragasa’s fierce winds in Hong Kong |
A City Under Siege
Hong Kong authorities raised the highest storm warning, Signal No. 10, for most of Wednesday, a measure reserved for only the most severe typhoons. The storm injured more than 100 people across the city.
Massive waves battered Hong Kong's eastern and southern coastlines, causing extensive flooding that submerged several roads and inundated homes. In a dramatic scene, seawater crashed through the glass doors of the Fullerton Hotel on the south side of the island, flooding its lobby. The hotel reported no casualties and stated that services were operating normally.
By Thursday, as Ragasa moved away from the city and weakened into a tropical storm, the observatory lowered the warning to the second-lowest level, Signal No. 3. However, kindergartens and some schools remained closed as a precaution.
The Path of Destruction
Before reaching Hong Kong, Typhoon Ragasa had already carved a deadly path across the region. It swept through the northern Philippines and Taiwan, where it was blamed for the deaths of at least 14 people. After battering Hong Kong, the typhoon made its final landfall in the southern Chinese city of Yangjiang on Wednesday.
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| Workers use a robotic pump to remove floodwater from inundated areas in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Ragasa in Hong Kong |
Recovery in Motion
As the storm subsided, recovery efforts in Hong Kong moved into high gear. The Hong Kong Airport Authority announced that airlines would gradually resume flights starting at 6:00 AM (10:00 GMT) on Thursday, with all three runways operating simultaneously to clear the backlog.
"It is expected that flights will be scheduled until late tomorrow night, handling a normal level of over 1,000 flights," the authority said in a statement, adding that airport operations would be extremely busy on Thursday and Friday.
City authorities reported they were urgently repairing collapsed roads, working to clear more than 1,000 fallen trees, and responding to approximately 85 cases of flooding.
Bracing for Impact
In the days leading up to the storm's arrival, the city had been on high alert. On Monday, authorities distributed sandbags to help residents in low-lying areas fortify their homes against potential flooding. Many citizens rushed to supermarkets to stock up on daily essentials, leading to empty shelves and a sharp spike in the price of fresh vegetables as the city braced for the powerful typhoon's impact.
