Hong Kong’s day of terror

This article was first published on September 2, 1962

Typhoon Wanda, with winds of up to 162 miles an hour, smashed its way through Hong Kong yesterday and in eight hours of terror, killed or injured hundreds, rendered nearly 20,000 homeless, and left behind it a trial of destruction such as the Colony has not suffered since September 2, 1937 – 25 years ago less a day – when a typhoon caused 11,000 deaths.

Not a single area escaped damage of some kind. Sha Tau Kok was ravaged by a tidal wave, so was Sha Tin where half the population were forced to take to the hills to escape drowning.

Several ships were sunk; many other vessels broke from their moorings at the height of the gale and drifted ashore or collided with other ships.

Buildings collapsed, people were buried alive, there was extensive flooding everywhere, and there were fires – all at the height of the storm.

In the teeth of this, firemen, policemen, and servicemen displayed exemplary courage, battling tremendous winds as they dug out trapped people, fought fires and rescued large numbers marooned by floodwaters.

Colossal damage

Damage is expected to run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.