bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Shirley Zhao

Hong Kong weather authorities have been reviewing data on Typhoon Hato, which wreaked havoc in the region last month, to see if the storm should in hindsight be reclassified as a super typhoon.
Shun Chi-ming, director of the Hong Kong Observatory, said the strength of Hato, which killed 10 people in the nearby casino hub of Macau, was comparable to 1962 Super Typhoon Wanda, which left 130 people dead in Hong Kong and 72,000 homeless.
Shun also warned on Saturday that there could be one or two tropical cyclones forming over the Pacific Ocean next week, but could not yet say for sure whether they would hit Hong Kong.
“We have been reviewing related statistics to see if we should escalate [Hato] to a super typhoon,” Shun said on a Commercial Radio programme.
The heroes of Hato: how Hong Kong firemen braved floods to rescue villagers
A super typhoon is classified as a tropical cyclone with a maximum 10-minute average wind speed of at least 185km/h.
A typhoon warning signal No 10 – the Observatory’s highest storm warning which is rarely used – was sent out in Hong Kong for Hato.
WATCH: Typhoon Hato leaves trail of destruction in Hong Kong


The storm caused flooding in many coastal areas of the city such as Heng Fa Chuen, Tai O and Lei Yue Mun, with waves about five or six metres high. But Hong Kong escaped casualties, unlike neighbouring Macau across the Pearl River Estuary.
Wanda came much closer to Hong Kong than Hato.
“Hong Kong was really lucky this time,” Shun said. “The strongest wind did not hit squarely and just scraped by the city. If Hato had been three or four kilometres closer, the situation would have been completely different.”
Macau suffers US$1.42 billion economic loss in wake of Typhoon Hato
The typhoon ended up moving closer to Macau where it caused citywide flooding, blackouts and water shortages. Two bodies were found in a waterlogged underground car park after the storm hit.
WATCH: Macau struggles to recover after Typhoon Hato


Shun warned there could be more typhoons on the scale of Wanda passing by Hong Kong as global warming heated up the sea and created more energy to strengthen typhoons.
This year, for example, the Observatory had originally expected to see between four and seven tropical cyclones, he said, but had now raised its expectation to between six and nine.
“September is traditionally a peak period,” Shun said. “There is a chance of one or two forming next week.”
Typhoon Hato teaches Hong Kong’s luxury car owners a lesson in vanity
Yeung Hon-yin, acting senior scientific officer at the Observatory, said scientists had observed two low pressure areas near Guam and the Philippines.
“The one near Guam will develop into a tropical cyclone gradually,” Yeung said. “It will bring unsettled weather to the seas east of the Philippines in the next couple of days.”

But the one closer to the Philippines, Yeung said, might not develop into a cyclone.
Yeung added that computer models had not been able to clearly tell whether the storm forming near Guam would hit Hong Kong.
Former Observatory director Lam Chiu-ying said the authority reviewed every typhoon after its passing for scientific purposes based on all available statistics, including some information only collectable after the storm.
“It’s like a postmortem,” Lam said.
Shun called on the government, which has been consulting the public on the idea of developing underground spaces in the city for commercial or recreational use, to take into account the risks posed by typhoons.
“We need to have a long-term plan to adjust to climate change,” he said.


Extreme weather scorecard: Hong Kong, Macau vulnerable in Greater Bay Area as Guangzhou, Shenzhen gird for once-in-200 year storms

How investing in nature can help protect Chinese coasts from rising seas and extreme weather

Deadly typhoon names Hato, Kai-tak and Tembin to be dropped from official list of future storm titles, says Hong Kong Observatory

The only way to kick the world into action is for politicians to see how climate change destroys lives in their own constituencies

Typhoon Hato

Hato may need to be reclassified as super typhoon after data review, Hong Kong Observatory chief says

A typhoon warning signal No 10 – the Observatory’s highest storm warning which is rarely used – was sent out in Hong Kong for Hato. Photo: Felix Wong

Director of the HK Observatory Shun Chi-ming attends Commercial Radio programme on climate change. 09SEP17 SCMP/ Edward Wong

Chinese soldiers helping in Macau after Typhoon Hato offers lessons for Hong Kong

Chinese soldiers based in Macau unload tools as they help clear debris in the city on Friday. Photo: AFP

epa06161488 China's People Liberation Army, (PLA), soldiers clean up debris brought by typhoon Hato in Macau, China, 25 August 2017. The PLA garrison in Macau has been helping with rescue and recovery efforts for the first time since the handover of the Portuguese colony to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. Typhoon Hato hit Macau on 23 August 2017. EPA/JEROME FAVRE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meet the media at at Central Government Office in Tamar. 21AUG17 SCMP / Dickson Lee

Don’t blame Observatory warning signals for Macau’s Typhoon Hato mess, former top Hong Kong weather official says

Severe Tropical Storm Pakhar lashes Macau on Sunday. Photo: AFP

epa06162479 People queue to collect water from a public water tab after water pipes have been broken by Typhoon Hato in Macao, China, 25 August 2017. The China's People Liberation Army (PLA) garrison in Macau has been helping with rescue and recovery efforts for the first time since the handover of the Portuguese colony to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. Typhoon Hato hit Macau on 23 August 2017 reportedly killing at least five people. EPA/CARMO CORREIA

A man walks past debris and rubbish piled up on a street in the aftermath of Typhoon Hato which hit on August 23, as severe tropical storm Pakhar passes over Macau on August 27, 2017. A powerful storm lashed Hong Kong and Macau early on August 27, just days after a punishing typhoon swept through southern China and claimed at least 18 lives. / AFP PHOTO / DALE DE LA REY

Lam Chiu-Ying, founder of Hong Kong Countryside Foundation, speaks at GIFT (Global Institute for Tomorrow), forum in Causeway Bay. 30SEP16 SCMP/Xiaomei Chen

People stand on a pile of sand bags at an entrance of a garage at a flooded area after Typhoon Hato hits Dongguan, Guangdong province, China August 23, 2017. Picture taken August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

Evacuation from Tai O village as streets turned to rivers after Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong

Floods in Tai O as Typhoon Hato hits the area. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Flood village in Tai O under Typhoon Hato. Typhoon No.10. 23AUG17 SCMP/ K. Y. Cheng

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Storm killed 10 people in nearby casino hub Macau last month and left widespread flooding
