Coastal communities devastated by Mangkhut mop up wreckage
Mangkhut weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm yesterday as it moved deeper into south China, leaving death and destruction in its wake from the Philippines to Hong Kong.
The storm brought strong winds and rain to China’s coastal provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.
In Hong Kong, the clean-up began after Mangkhut shredded the city, toppling trees and construction cranes, and flooding the Asian financial centre.
In the Philippines, the death toll rose to 65 people as rescuers pulled more bodies from a landslide in the mountain town of Itogon. It buried an emergency shelter being used by miners and their families.
No one has yet been pulled from the landslide alive. Relatives of those buried have joined the rescue efforts, the town’s mayor, Victorio Palangdan, said.
Philippine National Police spokesman Benigno Durana said 43 other people were missing and more than 155,000 remained in evacuation centres, two days after the typhoon struck.
Farms across northern Luzon, which produces much of the nation’s rice and corn, were under muddy floodwater, their crops ruined a month before harvest.
Many Filipino farmers were faced with a stark choice: stay to save their crops or flee.
Residents in Baggao on the eastern flank of Luzon knew they would be hit by the storm’s full force, but losing their livelihoods was a disaster they were willing to risk everything to prevent.
“Our house was blown away. We were flooded,” Diday Llorente, 55, said. “But we did not evacuate because we didn’t want to leave our carabao [water buffalo] and livestock.”
For most farmers, there is no insurance to compensate for a destroyed crop, or cattle, and no savings to bridge the gap.
“If we think from their perspective, these are really their greatest assets ... whatever little they have is all they have,” said Lot Felizco, country director for Oxfam Philippines.
“It’s really heartbreaking ... for people who already live in a very difficult and dangerous situation. What choices do they have?”
Aida Acopan, 59, fled her home during the last big storm that struck the area, Typhoon Haima in 2016.
“Someone broke into my house and stole half a cavan of rice [about 55 kilograms]. So I didn’t want to take any chances this time,” she said. “We decided not to evacuate.”
Her wood and concrete home was battered but still standing.
After tearing through Luzon and pummelling Hong Kong and Macau, the storm made landfall in mainland China late on Sunday, killing four in Guangdong province. Three were killed by falling trees.
Authorities moved more than three million people and ordered tens of thousands of fishing boats back to port before the storm hit.
In Hong Kong, the government described the damage as “severe and extensive”, with more than 300 people injured. Mangkhut triggered the maximum typhoon alert, a T10.
The task of cleaning up the city began yesterday as residents, some in suits and ties, struggled to return to work on roads blocked by fallen trees, mud and debris.
Landslides and severe flooding affected some areas, with more than 1,500 residents seeking refuge in temporary shelters overnight.
The storm, with gusts of more than 230 kilometres per hour, sent buildings swaying and waters surging into homes and shopping malls in Hong Kong, with some roads waistdeep in water.
Windows in tower blocks and skyscrapers were smashed as people cowered inside. In Victoria Park, hundreds of trees were uprooted.
In the neighbourhood of Heng Fa Chuen, thousands of rocks and pebbles from the sea covered parkland along the coast, battered by waves.
Fishing villages also suffered from the storm surge. The streets of Lei Yue Mun were covered in debris and glass.
In Macau yesterday, shopkeepers hosed down stores caked in mud from the flood waters. Residents in Yashao village, Guangdong province, removed debris and branches.
“I was scared. I didn’t dare go out last night. At one point the flooding was this high,” said villager Zhen Jingli, 62, pointing to his waist.
Many Filipino farmers do not have insurance or savings and they risked everything to save their crops and livestock