Lessons from Ragasa lashing Hong Kong’s coastal areas must be learned: experts

A flooded hotel lobby and promenades engulfed by seas whipped up as Super Typhoon Ragasa bore down on Hong Kong provide timely lessons for buildings and urban planning in coastal and low-lying areas, experts have said.

They called for flood-resilient features and higher breakwaters on Wednesday after a storm surge and downpours associated with Ragasa battered the city’s coastline, inundating streets and promenades, with floodwaters rushing into restaurants, parks and even a lobby in the 425-room Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel Hong Kong.

An online video showed water crashing through the glass doors of the seaside hotel in Aberdeen, with the carriageway outside the lobby covered in mud and debris and the decorative wooden facade ruined. But the hotel said it was open as usual because its main lobby on the first floor and other facilities were unaffected.

Professor Yau Yung from Lingnan University, a professional member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said he believed strong waves and possible debris would damage the glass doors and the facade.

The luxury resort, which boasts unobstructed views of the South China Sea, opened in 2022 and survived Super Typhoon Saola, which battered Hong Kong in 2023.

  

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