Sending a strong signal

Local politicians and opinion makers criticised the slow response by the government in changing to the higher levels of Typhoon Hato signals and the lack of warning to residents, who found themselves already working or on their way to work when the typhoon reached its highest intensity.
According to Legislator Lionel Alves, the speed with which the signals were changed caught many people unaware.
In Hong Kong on August 23, Signal 8 was raised at 5:00 am, with Signal 9 hoisted at 8.10 am and T10 at 9.10 am. In Macau, the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) hoisted Signal 8 at 9:00 am, Signal 9 at 10.45 am and T10 at 11.30 am.
“I don’t think the signals should be raised only according to the distance the typhoon is from Macau but taking into account its level of danger to residents. The signals should be to allow people to prepare for eventual damage to their possessions and themselves,” said the legislator and lawyer.
For Mr. Alves a typhoon cannot be considered something “mathematical” but as something that can “evolve in unexpected ways” thus warnings have to be provided with enough anticipation.
“When I was a kid, if Hong Kong raised a signal, shortly afterwards Macau would raise the same. I can’t understand how in such a short geographical distance there would be such a different time period between raising the signals,” he added.
Previously, the head of the SMG, Fong Soi Kun, stated that there had been a sudden change in the Hato trajectory with the storm strengthening more than anticipated.
“The typhoon has changed its route (…) from one moment to the next; in a short space of time it became much stronger than anticipated early in the morning,” explained the SMG director.
The increased criticisms by several sectors of society led to the SMG head filing its resignation yesterday.

Informing is not warning
According to Agnes Lam – Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences University of Macau (UM) and legislator candidate – the modus operandi of the SMG has remained the same “for many years”.
“The weather department doesn’t understand the difference between what is an alert and what is inform. I was really mad seeing their press conference (…) A weather forecast can’t be 100 per cent sure but when you kind of foresee it might be a strong typhoon you need to alert people in advance that they need to prepare food, protect their windows (…) they can’t just tell people in a casual way that we might have a Signal 8. We’ll decide later!” she added.
According to Ms. Lam the lack of awareness led to residents not storing enough food or water or protecting their windows against the typhoon, with her own house in Coloane damaged so severely she will not be able to stay there at the moment.
“A lot of my colleagues and students were stuck at UM with no water or food, no bus to go out. Some people tried to drive out and there was flooding (…) In Macau, most food and water comes from Mainland China and they were also fighting the typhoon, with supplies being cut down,” she added.

Old issue
The Macau Peninsula Barra area near the Inner Harbour was one of the most seriously damaged area in the MSAR, with both Mr. Alves and Ms. Lam pronouncing the area prone to flooding for a long period, without government intervention to prevent it.
“Something has to be done immediately in co-operation with Zhuhai authorities in order to develop a protection levee to prevent similar issues or avoid such a level of flooding. Since I was a kid I would hear that during a typhoon the Inner Harbour would flood. It’s always a tragedy,” said Mr. Alves.
The legislator added that around three years ago even the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) made a proposal to resolve the issue, with no results, while Ms. Lam remembers a proposal eight years ago that stopped abruptly after passing the public consultation period.
For Ms. Lam another serious issue to take into consideration is the two deaths caused in the car parks of modern buildings, which unlike buildings in the Inner Harbour have been developed recently.
“How can all those new buildings have this kind of flooding? What is the design of our city? Those buildings are all newly built; there is something systemically wrong in Macau and it’s very serious,” she told Business Daily.