Hongkongers can expect smooth return to work, school on Monday despite roads and 10 campuses still undergoing repairs from record rainfall, officials say
- ‘There should be no problem for residents returning to work and school,’ says No 2 official Eric Chan amid ongoing restoration efforts after record-breaking rainstorm
- But 10 schools unable to resume face-to-face lessons because of damage to classrooms from 16-hour weather event
Hongkongers can expect a smooth return to work and school on Monday despite some roads and 10 campuses still undergoing repairs from damage caused by the worst rainstorm to hit the city in more than a century, officials have said.
Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki on Sunday said the city had mostly resumed normal operations amid ongoing restoration work by authorities.
“There should be no problem for residents returning to work and school,” said Chan, who was among eight government officials addressing the media.
The Education Bureau said 10 schools would be unable to resume face-to-face lessons on Monday because of damage to classrooms brought by the rainstorm. Some cross-border students would have to use alternative checkpoints, as the facility at Man Kam To would still be closed for repairs after damage was caused to its power supply, it added.
Acting Secretary for Education Jeff Sze Chun-fai said the bureau had received reports from 117 schools over damage to electricity and drainage facilities at campuses.
“Emergency repairs are expected to be finished on [Sunday], except for one school where electricity facilities had been damaged,” Sze said.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said the government had repaired 80 roads and another five were expected to reopen at least one lane on Monday morning.
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Lam explained Yiu Hing Road in Shau Kei Wan, which was hit by a landslide on Friday, would need more time to be restored.
“The situation is relatively severe and involves a large area. We are formulating the construction plan and it will start when it is safe,” he said.
The Development Bureau said it had received 75 reports of landslides since the storm struck on Thursday, of which 54 cases had been resolved. Among the 75 incidents, 19 involved road closures.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said residents needed to be evacuated in six of the landslide cases. The figure included the case at the upmarket Redhill Peninsula residential complex in Tai Tam where three houses were affected, with initial investigation showing there were unauthorised building works and “some breaches of land leases”, she said.
Linn noted officers had started inspecting slopes, trees and structures at higher risk of endangering the public since Saturday, and she expected the work to be completed in a few days.
She said the government last year had started studying arrangements for Hong Kong’s drainage system under extreme weather, and the work was expected to be completed in 2024.
Linn also assured the public that the city had high standards for slope and drainage maintenance.
“The maintenance and facilities are of international standard, and even ranked towards the top of the list … Facing this ‘once-in-500-years’ rainstorm, and regardless of flooding and landslides, the situation is under control.”
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“I have reminded the various departments to be fully devoted to the aftermath works,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Given the need to clear the roads, the complexity and extensiveness of the landslide-related projects as well as the flooding caused by the sustained rain under the amber signal this morning, the departments need to race against time to allow the city to resume normal operations and minimise the inconvenience caused to the public,” he said.
Lee thanked his team and other civil servants for working tirelessly in recent days to restore roads and community facilities.
In a Facebook post, finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po also instructed various financial authorities to stay in close contact with the sector to ensure transactions and services would be stable and smooth on Monday.
The government has come under fire for its response to a record 16-hour black-alert rainstorm last Thursday, with critics calling its actions “too little, too late”. Torrential rains sparked flash floods citywide that turned roads into gushing rivers and spawned landslides.
The Observatory headquarters logged 158.1mm (6.2 inches) of rain between 11pm and midnight that day, the highest since records began in 1884.
The city was at a standstill on Friday morning as streets, shops and railway stations remained flooded. More than 100 people were sent to hospital.
The government announced the city was facing “extreme conditions” in the early hours of Friday, suspending schools and urging employers to set up arrangements similar to those under a No 8 typhoon signal, in which non-essential staff are advised not to go to the workplace.
The Observatory on Sunday morning was prompted to issue an amber rainstorm warning – the lowest in the three-tier warning system – at 6.25am. It was dropped at 8.55am.
Landslides were also reported at Leighton Lane in Causeway Bay and Fat Kwong Street Playground in Hung Hom.
An underground car park at Wan Tsui Estate in Chai Wan, one of the areas worst hit by the record-breaking rainstorm, was still completely covered in wet mud and debris three days after waters had flooded the premises.
Fewer than 10 vehicles, all of which had their windscreens caked in mud, remained in the car park, including the motorcycle of 35-year-old food delivery rider Muslim Khan.
“I bought [my motorcycle] three years ago for HK$30,000 [US$3,826] but now it’s beyond repair. I’m losing HK$1,200 to HK$1,800 every day for the past three days because I can’t work,” the father of a three-year-old told the Post.
Khan said he had been waiting for management to clean out the car park so he could assess the damage.
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“But it’s still not cleared after three days. I came here today to save my helmets which are HK$1,000 each. I gave up trying to save my motorcycle. I’ll just have to buy a new one tomorrow.”
Another resident, Ng, who had been living at the estate for more than 30 years, said floods were not new for the residence, which was built on a hill. But she had never seen one of such magnitude.
Pebbles and muddy debris were piled up on the side of the road and only one of two lanes was open to traffic.
Ng said she did not expect to see the stones or mud cleared any time soon and understood there was a shortage of labour.
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“Of course they should clear the major roads and arteries first so people can go to school and work tomorrow. This pile of mud below my block is the least of their priorities,” said the retiree, who is in her 60s.
Meanwhile, the MTR Corporation said only one of the lifts at the flooded Wong Tai Sin station had been fixed. It urged commuters to use Lok Fu or Diamond Hill stations for the Kwun Tong line when heading to work to begin their week.
For passengers who chose to use Wong Tai Sin station, the MTR Corp asked them to expect longer queues and waits for trains, and crowd control measures could be adopted as necessary.
Weather for Monday was expected to remain mostly cloudy, with showers and thunderstorms at times. While the rain would weaken and skies would brighten in the following days, the weather was expected to get worse in the latter part of the week, according to the latest forecast.
Separately, the government on Sunday evening said it had been notified by Shenzhen authorities that passenger and cargo clearance services at the Liantang-Heung Yuen Wai border crossing would resume at 7am on Monday, while the Man Kam To checkpoint would remain closed until further notice.
The two were closed after power supply facilities were damaged during the rainstorm last week.
