The Transport Department (TD) today (September 10) said that Shek O Road, which was temporarily closed due to landslide and road subsidence, was reopened after emergency repairs. After bus trial, Citybus route no. 9 (Shau Kei Wan – Shek O) will be resumed with deployment of single-deck buses. The first departure will be departed from Shau Kei Wan and Shek O respectively at 6am today.

     The TD reminded motorists to pay attention to traffic conditions and drive with care as the concerned section of the road is converted into one-lane-two-way traffic.

     The trough of low pressure associated with remnant of Haikui has brought torrential rain, leading to widespread flooding. Landslides and road collapse occurred in Shek O Road yesterday (September 8). The affected road section has been temporarily closed for emergency slope works. The Government is highly concerned about the incident. Coordination across departments is in place to speed up the repair works and dispatch of supplies as well as facilitate evacuation, with a view to rendering assistance to the affected residents. 

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, instructed all departments to race against time to repair roads, provide necessary supplies to residents and carry out evacuations. The operation has two components – the Transport and Logistics Bureau oversees road repair while the Security Bureau coordinates the distribution of supplies and evacuations.

     The Southern District Office, together with the Fire Services Department, the Police, the Civil Engineering and Development Department, the Highways Department, the Transport Department and the Social Welfare Department, held an interdepartmental meeting last night to discuss on how to assist the affected residents. All the relevant departments have spared no effort in dealing with the aftermath.

     The Southern District Office and the Southern District Care Teams took the fireboat to bring supplies to Shek O via the sea-route in two batches in the morning and in the afternoon today (September 9). Supplies included food, medicines, and SIM cards. The District Officer (Southern) also joined the second batch to co-ordinate efforts of the Care Teams.

     The Fire Services Department, the Police, the Home Affairs Department, the Civil Aid Service and the Auxiliary Medical Service assisted the residents in need to take the fireboat and the Police launch to evacuate to the urban areas this afternoon. The District Offices had arranged the Causeway Bay Community Centre to receive villagers evacuated by the Fire Services Department.

     The Highways Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department carried out repairing works at two landslide locations at Shek O Road with a view to resuming traffic as soon as possible. Clearance of soil debris from one of the locations was completed at 3pm today. One traffic lane at the other location of road surface with road surface damaged by the landslide was reopened around 9pm today so as to allow light trucks to pass through. The Highways Department will continue with the emergency repairing works, so that single-decker buses could also drive through the road section concerned by 6am tomorrow, after it is confirmed safe to do so.

     The Hongkong Electric Company, Limited (HEC) received a total of six requests for assistance due to power outage from Shek O Village and Tai Long Wan Village. The Government coordinated with HEC personnel for emergency repairs and HEC has assisted the affected households in restoring power today. It has been confirmed that the power supply in Shek O Village and Tai Long Wan Village is normal.

     The Southern District Office, the Fire Services Department, the Police, the Auxiliary Medical Service and the Civil Aid Service will station in Shek O over the night to provide emergency assistance to the residents.

      

     Shek O Road, which was temporarily closed yesterday (September 8) due to a landslide and road subsidence, was reopened to light vehicles this evening (September 9) after emergency repairs.
 
     "One lane of Shek O Road was reopened to light vehicles around 9pm tonight after the Highways Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department carried out repairing works there to fix the damaged road surface caused by the landslide. As some sections of the road are being converted into one-lane-two-way traffic, motorists are advised to pay careful attention to traffic directions at the scene," a government spokesman said.
 
     The Highways Department will continue with the emergency repairing works. After confirming the safety of the road, the department will endeavour to allow single-deck buses to pass through the road at 6am tomorrow (September 10), so that residents can get in and out of Shek O.

     The Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, today (September 9) said that departments under the Development Bureau (DEVB) continued to carry out relief work and follow up with every effort on the impacts brought by the extreme conditions, with a view to enabling the community to resume normal as soon as possible. To ensure public safety, the DEVB has also instructed relevant departments to launch special inspections exercise to identify slopes, trees and structures with potential risk after the torrential rain.
 
     As of 8am today, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) has received 60 confirmed cases of flooding, all of which have been eliminated and the affected areas reopened. The DSD will continue to inspect and clean up drainage and river channels to ensure smooth operation of drainage systems. During the period, more than 550 staff members of the DSD and contractor have been deployed to handle flooding-related emergency and follow-up work.
 
     In response to landslide incidents triggered by the extreme rainstorm, the Emergency Control Centre of the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) of the Civil Engineering and Development Department have so far deployed around 90 geotechnical engineers and technical staff to inspect landslide sites, and offer advice to various government departments and emergency service personnel. As of noon today, the GEO received 60 reports of landslides and completed inspection on 35 landslide cases which were relatively severe. Departments responsible for slope maintenance including the Highways Department and the Lands Department were advised to carry out urgent slope maintenance works. Such incidents include 16 cases with roads completed closed (being reopened progressively), five cases with roads partially closed and four cases involving evacuation of residents (one case with arrangements made for residents to return home after temporary evacuation).
 
     The GEO's Emergency Control Centre will remain in operation to handle the remaining landslide cases with relevant maintenance departments. Meanwhile, relevant departments will proactively carry out emergency slope maintenance works as required including clearing road surface, removing debris and loose soil, and using cement spray to stablise exposed slopes under safe condition when the weather permits.
 
     Owing to the damage of underground water mains in the landslide incident near Yiu Hing Road in Shau Kei Wan, water supply to the Yiu Tung Estate had been affected. With the all-out efforts of the Water Supplies Department in emergency repair, water supply resumed fully this afternoon.
 
     Various government departments responsible for the maintenance of man-made slopes, including works departments, the Lands Department, the Housing Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department commenced special inspections today to comprehensively inspect all the man-made slopes under their purview to further enhance the safety of all government man-made slopes to protect the safety of the general public.
 
     Besides, tree management departments will conduct another round of special inspections following the large-scale inspections mounted earlier after the passage of typhoon, in order to ensure the stability of trees after the torrential rain and properly handle trees with potential risks to ensure public safety.
 
     The Buildings Department (BD) will continue to inspect the external walls of buildings in accordance with a risk-based approach and select those with higher potential risk for special inspections of their external walls by using drones to ascertain their conditions as early as possible. Where necessary, the BD will arrange the government contractor to carry out emergency works on behalf of the owners and then recover the costs from them.
 
     Although the extreme conditions has ended, the landslip warning is still in force. Members of the public should remain vigilant and stay away from slopes. Motorists should avoid driving in hilly areas or parking vehicles in front of slopes. Residents living close to slopes should stay in rooms furthest away from slopes or on high floors if possible. When a notification to evacuate is received, members of the public should follow rescuers' instructions and move immediately to a safe shelter. If they witness a landslide, they should leave immediately and call the Police under safe conditions.
 
     Furthermore, trees and structures may be affected after torrential rain due to a large intake of water into soil and surface layers. Members of the public should therefore remain vigilant when going outdoor, and avoid prolonged stay under trees and structures with signs of concrete spalling.
 
     Moreover, land and building owners, property management staff and site contractors should complete inspections of structures, trees, drains, slopes and retaining walls, construction sites and the like under their charge as soon as possible and carry out appropriate risk mitigation work to avoid accidents.

     The Government has various funds for providing financial assistance to persons affected by natural disasters, persons affected by the current rainstorm disaster may apply to the relevant departments according their needs.  To facilitate the public in seeking appropriate assistance, the scope of assistance, method of application and contact details of different departments responsible for the funds are listed in the Annex.
 
     "The Government is sympathetic to the situation of those affected.  The relevant departments will process the applications received as soon as practicable in order to disburse the emergency funds of approved applications within the shortest time possible," the spokesman said.