The picture shows the police in Macau clearing fallen trees.

(File photo)

The picture shows the people of Macau cleaning their homes after the typhoon.

(File photo)

On August 23, the super typhoon "Hato" hit Macau head-on. A strong typhoon that has not been seen in half a century, coincided with the astronomical tide, and nearly one-third of the urban area of Macau, a small city known as the "Lotus Treasure Land", suddenly became a vast ocean, and many residential shops and underground garages were flooded. The typhoon caused a total of 10 deaths and 244 injuries. Thousands of vehicles were flooded, and the power distribution rooms and water pump rooms of many buildings were damaged to varying degrees, resulting in large-scale water and power outages. Nearly half of the large trees in Macau broke and fell, and road traffic was seriously blocked. The Macau Statistics Bureau initially estimated that the direct and indirect economic losses caused by the typhoon totaled 11.47 billion yuan (hereinafter referred to as Macau dollars).

Natural disasters are like a sudden exam. What kind of answers did the small town hand in?

Fighting in times of crisis

On the morning of the 23rd, Zeng Zhiming, the chief police officer of the Macau Public Security Police Force who had joined the police force for 21 years, drove a car to patrol a road along the river after the No. 8 typhoon signal was hoisted (the whole city was closed for classes). He found that the scaffolding of a construction site was in danger of collapse and the seawater was still pouring in. He immediately decided to park the police car at the intersection to block it and blew the whistle to evacuate the citizens to a safe place. In just a few minutes, the water was waist-deep and about to "immerse the eyebrows", he saw more than 10 people trapped in a fast food restaurant not far away, and two citizens were trapped on the roof of the car on the side of the road, and they were in danger of being blown down and washed away at any time. Zeng Zhiming didn't have time to think about it, so he jumped into the water to rescue them. After several efforts, he finally sent them to a high place to escape. Then he went to rescue the citizens trapped in the fast food restaurant and transferred them one by one to a safe place.

The backflow of seawater brought by the storm surge caused the underground parking lots of many buildings in Macau to be flooded. There were constant calls for help from the public: someone was trapped in the flooded parking lot. In the words of Chen Qifeng, a diving team member of the Macau Customs, he has worked in the customs for 11 years and has been a "frogman" (diver) for 6 years. It is unprecedented to conduct search and rescue in a parking lot flooded by seawater, and he has no experience. But we saw the family members of the missing waiting outside the parking lot, and immediately assessed the on-site environment as quickly as possible to search and rescue. We hope that no matter whether the missing person is alive or dead, we can take him out of the dark and cold parking lot as soon as possible to give an explanation to the family members.

Ko Ka Fai, who has joined the customs for 26 years, has transferred to other jobs in 2007 after working in the diving team for 12 years. On the second day of the typhoon, the superior asked him if he could be a frogman again? He immediately answered that it was no problem. He said that although he had retired for 10 years, he had received professional training after all. With such a big disaster in Macau, the diving team needs help. People who have not received special training cannot help, and he must do his best.

The Customs diving team, which usually consists of only 16 people, urgently recruited 10 retired former "frogmen" to complete the search and rescue mission of the flooded parking lot as soon as possible. In a group of three, they took turns to search and rescue in the water. It is not difficult to imagine what the scene in the flooded garage would be like: it was pitch black, and the waterproof flashlight was of little use. Gasoline, dead fish and shrimps floated in the dirty and turbid water, wooden boards with nails and even cars floated around, some vehicles were washed over by the sea water, and there were collapsed stone walls and sunken ground. The sharp exposed metal was a great challenge for divers.

Lin Zhiwen, who was also retired and called back, said that the garage was submerged in water and faced a harsh environment that had never been encountered before. It was indeed a bit nervous at the beginning, but we were trained professionals, and there were people trapped inside. No one else could do this job except us. We must not only do our best, but also race against time. The family members and reporters were waiting at the door of the garage. We kept searching in different parts of the garage. We found the trapped person's car between the first and second underground floors, but there was no one inside. Finally, we found someone on the third underground floor. Unfortunately, he had died.

The Judiciary Police, who are usually responsible for combating crime, are not responsible for street security, but they were all mobilized during the storm. In addition to sending patrols to maintain street security, they also organized volunteers to clean up the streets and visit elderly people living alone. They took off the black vests familiar to the citizens, rolled up their sleeves to lift trees, clear garbage, climbed dozens of floors of buildings that were out of power, and delivered water and food to residents without water and electricity. In order to deliver meals to the elderly living alone, the Judiciary Police volunteers "held more than a dozen boxes of meals and walked dozens of floors." Lin Zhenhui, chief criminal investigator of the Judiciary Police, said, "I didn't think about how many floors I had to walk, I just wanted to do my best."

The various departments of the SAR government also took action: the Civil Defense Operations Center guided and coordinated the overall actions of the 27 members under the civil defense structure, received reports, analyzed, handled and followed up on accidents caused by the typhoon, arranged to close the cross-sea bridge, and coordinated and followed up on the search and rescue operations for people trapped by flooding. The Health Bureau activated the disaster response plan on the morning of August 23, arranged sufficient medical and logistical personnel to participate in various tasks during the response period, and opened 8 health centers to provide emergency services. The Civil Affairs Bureau, together with other departments, cleared fallen trees, road obstacles and various types of garbage day and night, clearing more than 16,500 tons of garbage in 8 days. It inspected 860 food-related places and destroyed more than 360 tons of frozen meat and other foods that were spoiled by power outages and flooding. In the days after the disaster, more than 600 people were organized every day to provide voluntary support such as cleaning communities and distributing food and drinking water in various districts.

Hato is ruthless, but Macau is full of love

Macau's "Huang Zhi Ji" is a nearly 60-year-old shop on October 5th Street. This street is one of the worst-hit neighborhoods in this disaster, and the first stop for the troops stationed in Macau to support disaster relief is here. On September 2, a notice of "please eat wonton noodles" was widely circulated in the "circle of friends". It turned out that the owner of "Huang Zhi Ji" posted a notice outside the store and announced it through online social media: Invite the neighbors on this street and nearby to eat wonton noodles for free on September 5th and 6th. The store manager surnamed Huang told reporters that from noon to night on September 5th and 6th, 1,300 wonton noodles, beef brisket noodles, drinks, mineral water, etc. were provided free of charge every day, with a cost of about 100,000 yuan. The boss said that Huang Zhi Ji has been running a store here for nearly 60 years, and the neighborhood sentiment is better than that of family members. Today, the store suffered heavy losses from the wind and flood disaster (the loss of this store is relatively light). I hope everyone can cheer up, overcome the difficulties, and continue the good neighborly love. This is to express a humble thought to comfort the tired body and mind.

Due to the large-scale water and power outages caused by "Hato", it has become difficult for residents to cook, and many restaurants have also suspended business. The restaurant "Tomato House", which was not greatly affected by the typhoon, distributed meals to surrounding neighborhoods, elderly centers and community centers for free. The person in charge of the store, Mr. Peng, was originally in Hong Kong to accompany his wife to give birth. He rushed back to Macau the day after the typhoon and distributed more than 1,500 lunch boxes in 3 days.

On the third day after the disaster, Liu Zuochun, vice chairman of the Macau Chinese New Youth Association, learned from the experience of surrounding areas and jointly created a typhoon map website with volunteer partners, providing information on garbage distribution, material stations, temporary water supply points, road information, first aid stations, shelters and even plastic bottle recycling points in various districts. The website was visited by more than 90,000 people on the day it went online.

Chen Guoqiang and two other doctors from the Xinqing Xiexinhe Medical Center, the building where the clinic is located is located in the area of Fai Chi Kei that was severely flooded. Due to the water and power outages, the clinic could not resume business for a while, so they set up a tent outside the building and braved the wind and rain for 4 consecutive days to provide services to nearly 200 patients.

Major community groups in Macau actively organized residents to provide disaster relief and lend a hand to citizens in need. The Macau Federation of Trade Unions, the Women's Federation, the People's Alliance for Building Macau, etc. sent volunteers to the streets to clean up garbage and restore the community environment and traffic order as soon as possible. The "Ping An Tong Rescue Center" of the Neighborhood Association and the Federation of Students organized young volunteers to deliver food to the elderly living alone who were trapped by the power outage to solve their urgent needs. Many community groups opened their venues to allow citizens affected by the water and power outages to come in and rest.

Due to the power outages in many traditional street markets after the storm, all fresh food in the street markets was written off, and the vendors suffered heavy losses. Fishermen were also severely affected. Many fishing boats and transport boats sank or were seriously damaged. Some docks were also unable to operate due to damage, and many fishermen "stopped working and eating". In order to help them tide over the difficulties temporarily, the Macao Daily Readers Charity Foundation has donated 12.3 million yuan to the Macao Fishermen Mutual Aid Association, the City Vendors Mutual Aid Association, the General Association of Neighborhood Associations and other associations. Various social departments have also done their best to help the people resume normal life and production: ICBC Macau has established a "typhoon reconstruction support loan program". The motherland urgently organized and dispatched emergency supplies to ensure the smooth progress of disaster relief work and the stable supply of agricultural and sideline products. The Economic and Financial Affairs Bureau has established a "Special Assistance Program for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" and "Post-disaster Subsidy Measures for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" affected by the typhoon. The Macao Foundation has focused on launching special assistance programs such as water and electricity subsidies, medical condolence funds, and home repair assistance funds.

Learn from the pain and treat both the symptoms and the root causes

Surrounded by the sea on three sides and with a low terrain, Macao has always been plagued by floods. Whether it is heavy rain or storm surges, it will bring flooding problems to the city. The casualties and economic losses caused by this typhoon were mainly caused by the backflow of seawater. In summarizing the various tasks in response to the typhoon, the government frankly admitted that there were deficiencies. The Chief Executive therefore instructed the establishment of a review committee on the major disaster response mechanism and personally took charge to listen to public opinions. During the 15 days of collecting opinions on the "major disaster response mechanism", the community responded enthusiastically. Through various channels such as websites, emails, and telephone messages, 1,264 opinions and suggestions were received on major disaster warning mechanisms, civil defense work coordination and information release, urban construction and urban governance, etc.

The construction of a tidal gate was put on the agenda. At the end of August, relevant central ministries and commissions agreed in principle to the tidal gate project. On September 12, Chief Executive Chui Sai On personally led relevant officials to Guangzhou to discuss the construction of a tidal gate with relevant departments of Guangdong Province. The meeting decided that under the framework of Guangdong-Macao cooperation, the counterparts of the two places would strengthen communication, continue coordination, and carry out in-depth demonstration of the tidal gate project.

A special department for preventing and responding to natural disasters and safety accidents was established. The Secretary for Security of the SAR Government, Wong Sio Chak, said that in the future, a series of short-, medium- and long-term targeted plans will be launched in terms of civil defense response and disaster relief coordination, including the establishment of a special department for the prevention, response and aftermath of natural disasters and safety accidents - the Civil Defense and Emergency Coordination Bureau, the implementation of regular civic education, and the enhancement of the crisis awareness and self-rescue awareness of departments and the public in response to disasters and safety accidents. The Director of the General Police Force, Ma Yaoquan, said that a professional team of the National Disaster Reduction Committee will come to Macau in the near future to assist in reviewing the situation of Typhoon Hato and make suggestions for the preparation of Macau's medium- and long-term disaster prevention and reduction plan.

Establish rules and amend laws. The SAR Government will study the disaster level mechanism, which includes public health and emergencies in addition to natural disasters, and initiate corresponding measures when the disaster level rises to a certain level. Since it involves measures such as restricting personal rights and freedoms in emergency situations, legislation will be proposed after the new Legislative Council begins to operate.

Lu Kaiyan, a lecturer at the Institute of Social Economy and Public Policy of the Macau Polytechnic Institute, commented that although the arrival of "Hato" this time caused serious property losses and casualties to the citizens, it also improved the crisis prevention awareness of Macau society. In particular, after learning lessons, the government has taken a series of measures, such as providing assistance to affected businesses, setting up an independent committee to investigate whether there is fault responsibility in disaster prevention and relief work, and listening carefully to opinions from all walks of life. However, at present, it is only through the difficult stage of post-disaster cleanup. There are still many difficulties to overcome in the future, and it is impossible to achieve them all in a short period of time. However, these positive actions show the government's determination and courage. It is also hoped that the government can reduce the negative impact of the typhoon in the short term and seize the opportunity to make it an opportunity to promote the SAR government to improve its governance level in the long term.

After more than 10 days, the reporter once again came to the October Fifth Street, which was once severely damaged and full of garbage. It has basically restored its normal appearance in the past, and 90% of the shops have resumed business. This was the most prosperous commercial street in Macau in the last century, and it was also the worst-hit neighborhood this time. It is a microcosm of Macau. The city's tenacious vitality and positive energy are endless and will show the world a better tomorrow.

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