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SCMP Reporter

AN unnamed 1937 typhoon which killed 11,000 people was the worst recorded storm Hong Kong experienced.

  The water in Tolo Harbour rose 10 metres above sea level. Coastal settlements were flooded and hundreds drowned in the Tai Po area.

  Typhoon Wanda in 1962 claimed the second highest death toll at 183. Gusts of wind reached 167 knots at North Point and sank 2,000 ships including the 2,330-tone SS Cronulla.

  Typhoon Hope scored a direct hit in August 1979, and paralysed Hong Kong with 128-knot winds. Twelve people died and 260 were injured.

  Hong Kong was scarred for weeks with territory-wide power blackouts and communications disrupted after the five-hour storm.

   Ellen hit Hong Kong in September 1983, killing six people, injuring 333 and leaving 1,198 homeless.

  Gales of up to 120 knots whipped the territory and 23 ships ran aground.

  On the rampage for more than 65 hours, Ellen caused widespread blackouts, flooding, mudslips and landslides. Electricity was disrupted for four days.

  The typhoon which brought the most disaster to Hong Kong in recent years was Fred in August 1991.

  Only the No 3 signal was hoisted but the storm overturned an oil barge and killed 12 people 100 kilometres east of Hong Kong.

  Most of the 195 crew on board the Singapore-owned DB29 were thrown into the sea. Four divers suffered decompression when they got trapped beneath the waves.

  Typhoon Wayne, which caused one fatality in September 1988, was the only one which visited Hong Kong twice.

  It originated over the South China Sea in mid-August and returned to the territory for two days.



Trails of terror through the years