“Climate change is a global problem faced by the world. She added the Drainage Services Department had updated its Stormwater Drainage Manual in August last year based on the sixth assessment report released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2021. In a separate written reply to lawmaker Starry Lee’s questions on the city’s flood prevention capacity, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said on Wednesday that the government would prioritise drainage improvement projects for areas with a higher flooding risk, such as the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, Wong Tai Sin District and other low-lying areas. Tang said on Wednesday that the system had two levels of emergency messages, and bureaus and departments would seek approval from the chief secretary, the city’s No.2 official, to send the alert under “truly justified emergency situations.” Flooding in Wong Tai Sin on September 8, 2023, after Hong Kong was hit by a quarter of its annual average rainfall within 24 hours. The government activated the system for the first time to inform the public about turning a public hospital into a Covid-19 facility amid the fifth wave of infections. The emergency alert on phones – with a loud audio alarm and vibration lasting for around 10 seconds – shocked Hongkongers in March last year. Lawmaker Luk also asked if the government had formulated a mechanism to disseminate alerts about natural disasters to the public through the HK$150 million Emergency Alert System launched in November 2020. Other workers should remain in a safe place.Įmployers should be “sympathetic and flexible” in making post-typhoon work arrangements, with prime consideration being given to staff safety, the department said in September. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.Īccording to guidelines issued by the Labour Department, only essential workers who agreed to be on duty at workplaces when “extreme conditions” existed should report for duty. A landslide blocks Yiu High Road near Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong, on September 8, 2023. If the resumption of work was severely affected in the aftermath of a typhoon, the government can also make such an announcement to advise members of the public to remain in a safe place instead of going to work. In a written response to legislator Benson Luk’s questions on the government’s mechanism for making an “extreme conditions” announcement, Tang said the chief secretary for administration would lead a steering committee consisting of principal officials in the event of super typhoons or other natural disasters.Īn “extreme conditions” announcement may be made if the city experiences large-scale power outages, extensive flooding, major landslides or serious disruption of public transport services, Tang wrote. Other newly-established care teams in the remaining 16 districts in the city would be mobilised to serve those in need “in times of inclement weather,” Tang wrote in Chinese. The overhaul included the addition of a “government-wide mobilisation” alert level, which empowered the authorities to set up a command system, a rostering system and a mobilisation mechanism for handling emergencies.Īround 300 members and volunteers of the community care teams in Tsuen Wan and Southern District were also mobilised to help out in temporary shelters and for other follow-up actions, the security chief said. The deployment was part of a civil service mobilisation protocol, Tang said, which the government revamped last December. They also offered help to individuals who faced financial hardship because of the incident to apply for relief funds. Hong Kong mobilised over 500 civil servants for flooding clean-up, in first test of 'extreme conditions' drill - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP Close
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