By Ambrose Li,Oscar Liu

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Shopkeepers in Hong Kong’s flood-prone areas have taken pre-emptive measures to protect themselves against the approaching Super Typhoon Ragasa, while more than 100 households in Tai O have been evacuated as the government stepped up efforts to minimise potential damage.
Authorities warned on Monday that severe flooding would hit low-lying areas such as Lei Yue Mun in eastern Kowloon, Tai O on western Lantau Island and Tai Po in the eastern New Territories as Ragasa – a Filipino word meaning “rapid” or “fast action” – approached Hong Kong.
The government moved a robotic “water-pumping dragon” into Lei Yue Mun on Monday morning and made 40,000 sandbags available around the city – four times more than during previous typhoons.
Islands district council member Ho Siu-kei, who is also chairman of the Tai O rural committee, said more than 100 households in Tai O had been moved into temporary shelters with the help of about 80 volunteers, committee staff and members of the government’s community care team.

He said residents were cooperative and understanding after experiencing typhoons Hato in 2017 and Mangkhut in 2018, which caused waist-deep flooding during high tide.
“Most residents living in stilt houses are elderly people, and they are our main concern. Some of them have already moved to shelters, and we believe more people will come on Tuesday,” Ho said.
He added that volunteers had helped residents install flood barriers and move furniture and electrical appliances, while persuading them to seek shelter.
Wong Lam-lam, 50, a construction worker who lives in Kowloon, came back to Tai O on Monday to help his 80-year-old mother move her furniture and belongings.
“That’s the only downside of living in a stilt house. Our home flooded so badly during the typhoon in 2018. Since then, we’ve placed our refrigerator and washing machine on an elevated platform to avoid moving them every time a typhoon hits,” he said.
“My mother can’t move heavy things on her own. I just need to stop working for a day to help her out.”
Wong’s neighbour, Lam Ming, 64, a retiree, and his domestic helper helped Lam’s 97-year-old father, who uses a cane, and 90-year-old mother, who uses a wheelchair, leave Tai O. They plan to stay away for a few days.
“The older generation thinks they will survive the typhoon. I also feel confident they’ll be just fine,” Lam said, adding that he had kept their electrical appliances in elevated spaces at home.

Alex Chan Cheuk-mo, 50, a restaurant owner, suspended his operations on Monday to make preparations for the typhoon, securing the doors with sandbags and placing all the chairs on tables.
“The sandbags don’t prevent water from coming in, but at least they block the garbage and debris,” Chan said.
Kate Lee, the owner of Ngan Long Cafe in Lei Yue Mun, decided to close her Hong Kong-style diner for four days to mitigate the potential damage caused by the typhoon. Her measures included moving her refrigerators into the dining area and lining vulnerable areas with a new type of flood control bag.
“I’ve lost 14 fridges altogether in typhoons Hato and Mangkhut, which amounted to about HK$56,000 [US$7,200]. The dining area of the cafe was less affected, which is why I moved them in here and raised them on a platform,” she said.
Lee was not the only one who lost her refrigerators, she recalled, adding that more than 300 were completely damaged in the entire neighbourhood during previous typhoons and took more than a week to dispose of each time.
“I’m also trying out these new flood-control bags that puff up and increase in weight as they absorb water, because the 100 sandbags we had last time were not enough to stop water from coming in,” she said, adding that the new bags were lighter when dry and hence easier to move than sandbags.
Closing her diner for four days would mean losing between HK$10,000 and HK$20,000 in earnings, she estimated.

Next door to Lee, the owner of Lok Yee Seafood, which doubles as a restaurant and shop that sells live fish, lobsters, crabs, abalone and other types of seafood, said he had begun preparing for the typhoon last Friday.
“We’re quite worried as our shopfronts are facing a small pier. We’ve got 30 sandbags from the government now. They should be sending more later. We’ll also put up barriers to doors, and we’ve taken away all parasols on the rooftop of the restaurant,” the restaurateur, surnamed Wong, said.
“All the large glass windows were broken during Typhoon Mangkhut. Together with air-conditioning and fridges, it cost me hundreds of thousands in damages,” he recalled, adding that he had moved the live seafood stored on lower shelves to higher ones.
Bakery Liu Heung Yuen, though not as badly affected in past typhoons because it did not face the sea directly, nonetheless sustained some damage caused by the deluge of heavy rain flowing down to its location at the bottom of a hill, and the backflow of water from drains.
“We’ve lost a few refrigerators and water was at calf levels previously, but we find fridges too heavy to move. We’re hoping the water will not rise to the same level,” bakery owner K Law said, adding that she had about 20 sandbags stacked at her shopfront.
On the opposite shore of Lei Yue Mun lies the Heng Fa Chuen waterfront, one of the hardest-hit areas during previous super typhoons. There, flood barriers were erected immediately outside residential building lobbies and on pedestrian walkways.

Ling Leung, a housewife in her 50s who lives in the area, said she would move her vehicle, which she usually parked in the open-air car park of her residential complex.
“Car owners usually move their vehicles to a higher area in the neighbourhood when there is a typhoon No 8, so they will not get a parking ticket,” she said.
“We’ve lost two cars in two previous separate storms, so we are definitely moving it this time around.”