A mother and her 5-year-old son are in critical condition after being swept out to sea by giant waves as Super Typhoon Hakgaso battered Hong Kong, prompting the city to issue its highest-level storm warning for the second time this year.
The Hong Kong Observatory raised the No. 10 hurricane signal at 2:40 a.m. on Sept. 24 as the storm unleashed hurricane-force winds and a severe storm surge that inundated coastal areas. Water levels in the city’s east rose more than 3 meters above Chart Datum by Tuesday morning.
The issuance of two No. 10 signals in a single year marks a rare event, last recorded in 1964, highlighting the storm’s unusual power. Hakgaso passed about 100 kilometers south of Hong Kong at its closest point, with its broad circulation packing gusts of over 212 kilometers per hour on high ground.
The family was watching waves at the Chai Wan breakwater on the afternoon of Sept. 23 when a large wave pulled the mother and son into the turbulent waters. The father jumped in after them, while his 9-year-old daughter remained on the shore. All three were pulled from the sea, with the unconscious mother and son rushed to a hospital, where they were placed in the ICU in critical condition. The father is in serious condition.
Leung Wing-mo, a former assistant director of the observatory, said on a radio program that such “overtopping waves” are forerunners of a typhoon, arriving at the coast even when the storm itself is still hundreds of kilometers away.
As the storm raged, surging seawater shattered the glass doors of the five-star Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel’s lobby, with video footage showing the torrent knocking a man off his feet and washing him several meters across the floor.
In the Tseung Kwan O district, waterfront facilities were destroyed, a seaside restaurant was flooded, and a children’s playground was left with only a slide standing. In the New Territories, the water level of the Shing Mun River in Sha Tin rose significantly.
As of 9 a.m. on Sept. 24, a total of 33 people had sought treatment at public hospitals for injuries sustained during the typhoon. Authorities received 270 reports of fallen trees, 12 reports of flooding, and one report of a landslide.
