Public servants, volunteers join hands
In the aftermath of Super Typhoon “Ragasa” that pummelled Macau on Wednesday, public servants and volunteers from various segments of civil society yesterday began cleaning up the city, removing rubbish, fallen trees and other debris caused by the tropical cyclone, in their joint efforts to restore the city’s operations to normal as soon as possible.
Ragasa triggered a storm surge which caused severe flooding in low-lying areas on Wednesday, but the storm did not cause major damage.
In addition to municipal workers and public security personnel who launched the clean-up to remove large pieces of rubbish and debris when Ragasa was weakening on Wednesday evening, the government yesterday mobilised civil servants from various public entities to join its campaign to remove smaller pieces of rubbish and fallen tree branches, apart from volunteers arranged by various community associations, according to various government statements released on Wednesday and yesterday.
In response to the potentially catastrophic impact of Ragasa, which at its peak was officially classified as a super typhoon en route to Macau, the local observatory raised Strong Wind Signal No.3 (T3) at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, replaced it with Tropical Cyclone Signal No.8 (T8) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, raised T9 at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, and then replaced it with T10 (Macau’s highest storm-warning signal) at 5:30 a.m.
When Ragasa was gradually moving away from Macau, the signal was lowered to T8 at 4 p.m. and to T3 at 11 p.m. on Wednesday. All storm warning signals were removed at 6 a.m. yesterday.
According to a statement from the Government Information Bureau (GCS) yesterday, 116 post-typhoon clean-up teams comprising over 1,100 civil servants from various public entities yesterday joined the government’s clean-up drive, which was carried out in streets, alleys, public parks, recreational areas, and sitting-out areas in various districts and neighbourhoods across the city.
The civil servants participating in the government’s clean-up efforts yesterday comprised those from public entities under the portfolios of the government’s five policy secretaries, those working for entities directly overseen by the chief executive, as well as those working for the courts, the Legislative Assembly (AL), the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), the Commission against Corruption (CCAC), and the Commission of Audit (CA).
Yesterday’s government clean-up focused on removing smaller pieces of rubbish and fallen branches across the city, as the removal of larger ones, which blocked various thoroughfares and roads after Ragasa’s assault, was largely completed by municipal workers and public security forces officers on Wednesday night, according to a statement by the Unitary Police Service (SPU) yesterday, the duties of which include overseeing and coordinating the city’s civil protection work.
The GCS statement also said that yesterday’s clean-up joined by the 116 teams of civil servants also involved public security forces officers, volunteers mobilised by various community associations, and volunteers who have joined the government’s civil protection system.
In addition, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said in a statement yesterday that municipal workers collected about 700 tonnes of rubbish across the city overnight that was generated on Wednesday – when Ragasa battered Macau, representing an increase of 70 percent from the average daily amount normally.
Some 90 percent of the city’s public parks, recreational areas and sitting-out areas were closed yesterday morning as their facilities were damaged by Ragasa the previous day. A separate IAM statement yesterday said that as of yesterday evening, 90 percent of the city’s recreational areas and sitting-out areas, over 50 percent of the city’s public parks, and over half of the city’s dog parks had reopened, following the bureau’s emergency inspection and repair efforts.
However, all hiking trails and all cycling trails in the city were still closed as of yesterday evening.
In a wrap-up statement late on Wednesday night, the Civil Protection Operations Centre reported a total of 259 incidents induced by Ragasa, including smoking electrical boxes as well as fallen trees, scaffolding, lampposts, and signboards.
The statement said that Ragasa resulted in eight injuries, including a serious case in which the patient, whose gender was not revealed, was hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries. The person suffered injuries to his or her head after a fall caused by the typhoon.
Public security forces officers, in collaboration with public servants from various other public entities, evacuated numerous households from the city’s low-lying areas on Tuesday afternoon, in anticipation of a severe storm surge causing severe flooding on Wednesday. The statement by the centre said that 3,236 people from the areas were evacuated during the operations, which lasted for around four hours.
The evacuation operations were launched at 1 p.m. on Tuesday when the Orange Storm Surge Warning was issued, the third most severe of Macau’s five-level storm surge warning system – when the flood level was forecast to reach between 1.0 and 1.5 metres above road level in the Inner Harbour district.
After the evacuation operations were completed at 5 p.m., the local observatory issued the Red Storm Surge Warning at 6 p.m. that day, the second most severe of the storm surge warning system – when the flood level was predicted to reach between 1.5 and 2.5 metres.
Coinciding with an astronomical high tide, the storm surge caused by Ragasa finally resulted in flooding with its highest level reaching 1.51 metres in the Inner Harbour area on Wednesday morning, according to the local observatory. The floods gradually receded in the afternoon. All storm surge warnings were removed at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
The statement by the centre also said that a total of 705 people sought shelter in the government’s 17 emergency centres during the typhoon.
Civil servants mobilised by the government clean up rubbish in an alley yesterday in the aftermath of Ragasa. – Photo: GCS
