1971 Typhoon Rose

Submitted by Klaus on Thu, 04/01/2021 - 18:02

Max. windspeed: 220 km/h (140 mph)

Deaths: 110, among these 88 people on the sunken ferry boat SS Fat Shan.

Rainfall on August 17: 288.1 mm

The daily total rainfall of 288.1 mm on August 17 is the highest value ever recorded in one calendar day in August in Hong Kong.(source)

Over 1,000 wooden huts were destroyed in squatter and resettlement areas, and the number of disaster victims of the winds exceeded 4,500. The area most seriously affected was Sam Ka Tsuen. Then came Kowloon Bay. Other areas hit were Kowloon Tsai; 67 houses situated at Shan Shui Hau on Lantau Island, 14 houses in Tung Wan and Chang Sha, 16 apartment units in Kwai Chung’s Kwai Hing Estate, two building blocks in Chai Wan’s new area, one building block in Sau Mou Ping new area, and two apartment units in Tsz Wan Shan collapsed.

Sources: http://www.hko.gov.hk/publica/gen_pub/WeatheringTheStorm-2.pdf

Meteorological information here.

A short silent film:

 

 

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Typhoons in Hong Kong

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I've embedded the two videos so they can be seen. I think the video with sound is from a more recent typhoon though, as it appears to use films taken using mobile phones.

Thank you both. I've created an entry for typhoon Hato and transferred the video.

In the early 70s I was a detective inspector serving in Tsim Sha Tsui. This is an extract from "The Accidental Prawn - Interesting Times Policing Hong Kong in the 20th Century":

Another CID mobile patrol was mounted during Typhoon Rose on 16th August 1971 when during the hurricane No 10 signal, (when we should all have been tucked up in the mess, all outdoor duties being withdrawn on a No 9), all the electricity in Kowloon was knocked out and some bright spark ordered CID out to “prevent robberies and burglaries”.

It is a given that rain is the policeman’s best friend with all crooks wisely taking the day off so this was a totally daft idea. We drove cautiously around for a while, hardly able to see a thing through the driving rain, when a brave or stupid pedestrian overtook us being blown down the pavement in Kimberly Road.

A young DPC in the back reacted first to assist him, throwing open the rear door. Uh-oh! The door followed the pedestrian down the road, never to be seen again. They didn’t build Ford Cortinas in the 70s like they later did; my uncle called them Dagenham Dustbins.

We retreated, wet and minus a door, to the Hyatt hotel where we joined a horde of tourists and locals having a typhoon-party in the coffee shop, romantically lit by candlelight, until No 10 was lowered and the lights came back on.

"The Accidental Prawn is on Kindle or as a 2nd edition hard copy from guyshirra@gmail.com

Yes, thanks for the date and the name of the typhoon which almost delay our journey, immigration to the United States of America! Remembering the ride back to Uncle M.M.'s apartment after the farewell dinner with all the immediate relatives at my be "Yung Lung" on Boundary Street Kowloon Tong district. All lights were out but somehow, Uncle M.M. was able to drive safely with headlights only, back to safety of first, Uncle M.K. 's apt to drop me off to spend the last night in Hong Kong by sleeping in their closet, and my other siblings were "distributed" to spend the night with other relatives and close friends before everybody showed up the next day on board the S.S. President Wilson, jam-packed the cardroom near the entrance counter check-in area, until the Captain announced over the bull horn, I think, asking all visitors to disembark for the ship to get ready to set sail. I think there was a ramp between the ship and Ocean Terminal for the guests/relatives and closed friends to use after the last emotional farewell to Mom and Dad...I think it was late at night in the dark when the ship sail out of the Hong Kong Harbor or it was still raining from this powerful typhoon hence not able to get out to the deck to wave good bye..So August 18 or 19th was the date that the American President Line S.S. President Wilson last passenger trip out of Hong Kong to San Francisco.