Business leaders have called for an overhaul of the storm signal policy after Typhoon Yutu caused no significant damage on Wednesday but led to most businesses being closed for the day.
General Chamber of Commerce director Eden Woon Yi-teng said the chamber had received a flood of calls from members furious at repeated incidents when the No 8 Signal was hoisted 'unnecessarily'. The chamber plans to write to Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang Yam-kuen calling for a review.
For the 19 hours No 8 Signal was hoisted during Yutu's approach on Wednesday, the SAR was closed for business. Estimates of the cost of lost trade range from $3.5 billion to $5 billion. The signal was hoisted even though wind speeds in Victoria Harbour failed to reach the minimum 63km/h set out in criteria from the Observatory.
The No 8 Signal has been hoisted on three days this year, during the approaches of typhoons Utor and Yutu, both of which missed and had only a limited effect.
Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions vice-chairman Poon Siu-ping attacked the chamber's call for a review, saying it was an instance of bosses 'ignoring the well-being of workers'.
Acting assistant director of the Observatory, Edward Ginn, said that when the signal was hoisted early on Wednesday, radar showed the track of the storm would probably edge close enough to directly threaten Hong Kong.