Hongkongers battle debris to get to work
Hong Kong, China - Hong Kong commuters clambered over fallen trees and piles of debris on Monday in a battle to get to work, as the workaholic city strove to get back to business after a devastating typhoon.
Commuters crammed into stations to try to board infrequent trains after the rail system was slowed by damaged power lines. All buses were cancelled because many roads were blocked by falling trees.
Some residents tackled an obstacle course to get to their jobs, climbing over broken branches, uprooted trees and even train tracks. Schools were closed and a clean-up was in full swing but there was anger that city leader Carrie Lam had not announced an official day off for workers.
When asked why she had not done so, Lam said it was up to employers to make that decision but they must not penalise workers who were late or could not make it.
A picture of a large crowd of commuters squashed in to northern Tai Wai station went viral on social media with the hashtag #thankscarrie.
“There were trees down all over the place, no cars, no buses,” said lawyer David Milli- gan, who works in Hong Kong’s commercial hub of Central.
“I’ve got my trainers on today because I knew I would be climbing over,” he said.
The storm took dozens of lives in the Philippines. No one was killed in Hong Kong but more than 300 people were injured.
Hong Kong resonated with the sound of saws and drills as workers tried to clear paths and roadways and fix damaged buildings, with many windows blown out in homes, office blocks and hotels, roofs torn off and fixtures including signs and lights hang- ing loose. Awestruck workers gathered to take pictures of skyscrapers whose windows had been punched through. One flight attendant staying with colleagues in a harbourside hotel said they hid in the bathroom to keep safe as windows smashed in their rooms and winds swept away their belongings.
In coastal areas, parkland and roadways were blanketed with rubbish and rocks washed inland after sea levels surged.
In the low-lying coastal village of Lei Yue Mun, famous for its seafood, residents young and old gingerly navigated rocks, glass, shells and branches. The village, which is in sight of the city’s skyscrapers but remains a low-rise warren of lanes, was pounded by waves that flooded streets and homes.