Economists estimate Typhoon Wipha cost Hong Kong between HK$1 billion (US$127.4 million) and HK$3 billion (US$382.2 million) in financial losses on Sunday. The tropical cyclone triggered the SAR’s strongest hurricane warning – No 10 – to be hoisted for 7 hours.
Economists at the Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong predicted losses of around HK$2 billion (US$254.8 million) to HK$3 billion (US$382.2 million) for the city, the South China Morning Post reports, with the hardest-hit sectors being catering, retail and transport. Around 500 flights were cancelled at Hong Kong’s international airport on Sunday.
The institute’s executive director, professor Terence Chong Tai-leung, said financial damage would have been worse if the typhoon arrived on a weekday. “Expenditures usually associated with weekends such as in tourism, retail or taking taxis would be reduced, but likely less than half a [work] day of GDP [gross domestic product],” he noted.
[See more: Macao assesses the damage in the aftermath of Typhoon Wipha]
Economist Simon Lee Siu-po, of the Shenzhen Finance Institute at the same university, estimated that losses would have ranged between HK$1 billion (US$127.4 million) and HK$2 billion (US$382.2 million) – with the retail sector taking the bulk of the blow, due to many stores being closed as a safety measure.
A no. 8 hurricane signal, or signals above that, were in force for 19 hours in Hong Kong across Sunday. They were downgraded to a no. 3 at 7.40 pm, and all signals were called off early Monday.
Typhoon Wipha also triggered a no. 10 warning in Macao on Sunday, causing widespread disruptions and shutdowns, along with more than 160 accidents and 5 injuries. It was the fifth tropical cyclone to reach level 10 in Macao since 2017.
