Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said yesterday that Macau’s ability to tackle disasters over the past 12 months – after deadly Super Typhoon Hato pummelled the city – has “hugely” increased.
Wong also said he was confident that if Macau were to face typhoons as strong as Hato in the future, the government could minimise the casualties. However, Wong acknowledged that he believes that there is no government in the world that can ensure zero casualties caused by a storm as strong as last year’s Hato. He was quick to add that the government always aims for zero casualties – even in the case of a typhoon as ferocious as Hato.
Wong also said that Macau would need to constantly increase its awareness and capability of disaster prevention, adding that tasks in preparation of possible disasters needed to be carried out forever.
Wong also said that the city’s various public security entities completed their post- Hato short-term measures last month, with the aim of increasing Macau’s ability to tackle typhoons and other disasters.
According to the government, the shortterm measures by the security portfolio include the purchase of various kinds of new disaster relief equipment with the aim of improving the government’s rescue capabilities, improved coordination of the government’s civil protection tasks, and the organisation of typhoon drills.
Wong made the remarks yesterday when attending a current affairs phonein programme hosted by Ou Mun Tin Toi, the Chinese-language radio channel of government-owned broadcaster TDM.
Today is the 1st anniversary of Super Typhoon Hato which devastated Macau on August 23, 2017, when it killed 10, injured 244 and resulted in massive flooding in the city’s low-lying areas.
Super Typhoon Hato – the fiercest typhoon to have hit Macau since 1953 – resulted in financial losses officially estimated at 12.5 billion patacas.
Most households, offices and shops were without electricity and tap water following Hato’s onslaught. Tap water and electricity supplies were back to normal for most of the affected residents several days later. However, due to damaged equipment, water and power supplies to some buildings were only restored some time later. The Hato onslaught left many residents traumatised for weeks.
No official events in commemoration of the killer typhoon have been announced. Since the 1990s, typhoons that descended on Macau had not resulted in fatalities – until the Hato catastrophe.
According to two executive orders issued by Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On published in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday, Chui is on a seven-day holiday from yesterday to next Tuesday – during which Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac is the acting chief executive, from yesterday to Friday while Wong will be the acting chief executive from Saturday to Tuesday next week.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak (centre), Fire Services Bureau (CB) Commissioner Leong Iok Sam (right) and Ho Su Hon, a senior officer of the Unitary Police Service (SPU), pose during a phone-in programme hosted by government-owned broadcaster TDM’s Chinese-language radio channel yesterday. Courtesy: TDM
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