The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: The Recovery

Even now, over a week and half after Typhoon Hato hit Zhuhai, fallen trees and other signs of the destruction left by the storm aren't hard to spot. Previous posts of scenes from the Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street, near the waterfront, the Bay Bar Street, Baishi Road, the Midtown complex, and elsewhere in the Gongbei subdistrict covered the day of the storm and the next day as well. To conclude this series of posts about some of the storm's impact, below are just a few scenes of the later cleanup, repair, and return to everyday life in Gongbei, mostly focused on places featured in the previous posts.

Two days after the storm, much debris remained on the Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street.

Crews were using heavy machinery.

Sometimes, construction equipment was repurposed to suit the task at hand.

Some of the large pieces of wood raised a question. What would be done with it all?

The night life at the Bay Bar Street, which had been severely affected, was returning at some places.

Also that night, on the non-pedestrian portion of Lianhua Road night street food vendors were back in action.

Six days after the storm, although the Bay Bar Street had been mostly cleared of debris, the long lasting damage to the trees that had once provided a thick full covering for the street was readily apparent.

But some things still survived intact.

Also, the popular walkway along Qinglu Road was clear, but damage remained.

Eight days after the storm Baishi Road no longer had a large fallen tree creating a tunnel over it, but there was still work to be done.

At the Midtown shopping complex, a smaller tree was now in its more usual orientation.

Throughout the city, piles of debris from trees still covered bikes lanes or sidewalks. Also visible were the many shiny and apparently new chainsaws in use.

Sometimes the debris included unusual objets, including an astronaut I may have seen before.

Finally, many storefront signs had been destroyed by the storm. Some were under repair as Zhuhai moved on.

The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: More From Gongbei

This post is an assortment of photos taken on the same day after Typhoon Hato hit Zhuhai to add to those from the Lianhua Road Pedestrian Street, near the waterfront, the Bay Bar Street, Baishi Road, and the Midtown complex. Like the other photos, they are all from the Gongbei subdistrict in Zhuhai. Two later posts will cover the later cleanup efforts in some of the areas covered so far and also in neighboring Macau.

This doesn't belong there

Usually busy with vehicles, Yingbin South Road had many people walking on it

The main reason for people walking on Yingbin South Road: obstructed sidewalks

Nonetheless, a few shops were open early on alongside Yingbin South Road

This KFC was closed for the day.

A large Coca-Cola bottle did not fare well.

But a large Sprite bottle remained standing

Many signs were destroyed, and shattered glass was easy to find.

Part of this metal sheet flapped in the wind. Many similar metal sheets had fallen to the ground.

Tree blocking Yuehua Road

Gongbei Port — the entry-exit point at the land-border between Macau and mainland China — was closed until later in the afternoon.

The neighboring Zhuhai Railway Station was also closed.

Some of the damage near the railway station

Broken tree limb stuck on another tree next to Qiaoguang Road

Pedestrians on Yuehai East Road

Finally, some scenes from Lian'an Road

The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: The Midtown Complex

According to a Zhuhai city website, the Midtown in the Gongbei subdistrict is:

Zhuhai’s first urban complex, covers a total floor area of 270,000 sq m, including the Fashion streets of 70,000 sq m, Novotel (Pullman) Hotel, a twin-tower Grade-A office building, and exquisite apartments. It integrates tourism, relaxation, shopping, catering, entertainment and business.

Just up the road from where I saw an& example of the remarkable damage from Typhoon Hato, despite its recent construction it too didn't survive the storm unscathed. Upon arriving there one day after the typhoon, I quickly noticed one of the piles of broken glass scattered around the complex.

A few steps back . . .

. . . and a few steps closer . . .

. . . revealed a possible source of the glass: windows from the two office towers. One person who spoke with me claimed the windows were blown off due to having been left open. Whatever the reason, a pockmarked surface is a terrible selling point for a relatively new and supposedly modern building still seeking tenants. More importantly, falling windows are obviously a major safety concern.

Nearby, the wooden structure for one of the two covered walkways succumbed to the storm.

The other one fared much better.

At another entrance to the complex, an area previously closed off appeared to have suffered much damage as well.

In the main commercial area, most of the obvious damage was to storefront signs.

Finally, as elsewhere, not all of the trees made it through the storm unscathed.

Mostly, the Midtown appeared to have done OK after being hit by a category 3 storm, but those windows . . .

The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai: A Fallen Tree on Baishi Road

Whether at a pedestrian street, near the waterfront, or at a bar street, people did their best to navigate the debris left by Typhoon Hato in Zhuhai. One notable example elsewhere in Zhuhai was on Baishi Road (白石路).  One day after the typhoon, people on foot and riding various vehicles made their way under a tree that had fallen across the road without completely obstructing it.

Some larger vehicles clearly would not have been able to pass, but while I was there I didn't see anybody turn around. Before deciding to move forward, though, a number of people paused, including myself.