From the South China Morning Post this week in: 1983
Typhoon Ellen struck Hongkong and Macau this week leaving a trail of devastation. Hurricane-force winds raged through Hongkong in the early hours of September 9 as Ellen came within 35 miles and crossed the South China coast. At 3.15am, Ellen was centred about 35 miles south-southwest of Hongkong. Winds of more than 120 knots forced the Royal Observatory to hoist the No10 hurricane signal at 2am, the first time since Typhoon Hope in 1979. Macau was even closer to the centre of the storm, but the No9 signal was not hoisted until 1am.
Confusion reigned as thousands of Hongkongers jostled each other in the race to get home after the No8 signal was raised at 4.45pm. Schools were closed and people rushed to the shops to stock up on food. Flights were cancelled and ferries servicing Victoria Harbour and Macau were halted. Three ships ran aground around Hongkong.
The next day, Governor Sir Edward Youde paid tribute to a fireman who died rescuing a 75-year-old woman after a mudslip wrecked her hut. A second mudslip swept senior station officer Chiu Shing-chow, 33, out to sea near Mount Davis village.
Discovery Bay may have seemed more like disaster bay, with a power blackout that lasted about 19 hours from the night Ellen struck. And some residents had no tap water because, without electricity to drive the pumps, water in roof tanks ran out. And residents learned that it would be a week before any repair work would start on their damaged homes. The typhoon shattered windows, ripped aluminium window frames off their hinges and sucked out air conditioners.
The Zoological and Botanical Gardens would take years to recover after almost three-quarters of its plant life had been uprooted along with century-old trees, while the gardens were covered with debris.
Although two caged birds were gone, two Brazilian monkeys of the marmoset family were born on the night the typhoon hit. A green magpie escaped and a New Guinea Desmarest fig parrot died after being blown into the side of its cage.