Critics of Hong Kong’s response to Typhoon Mangkhut have a point: there are improvements to make

To some people in Hong Kong, Typhoon Mangkhut will be remembered as the storm that the government mishandled. Officials failed to declare the following day a non-working day, and there was transport chaos in the New Territories. And even weeks later, crews still hadn’t cleared all the fallen trees and other debris.

I won’t go on at length in the administration’s defence, but let me make a couple of points. The government does not have clear powers to shut down business. Nor – even with citizen volunteers helping out – can it mobilise enough trucks and other equipment to remove 46,000 fallen trees in just a day or two.

The international press thought Hong Kong withstood the storm extremely well. Overseas media reports particularly noted that we escaped without suffering a single fatality. To put it in perspective, Mangkhut killed over 100 people in the Philippines.

Of course, nature was on our side. While it was our worst typhoon on record, Mangkhut had been even fiercer earlier when it approached Luzon. We were also helped by our urban environment with its solid structures and extensive drainage and other infrastructure. Not least, we must be thankful for our precautionary measures and the performance of our emergency and other services on the day. We must also accept that we were probably lucky.