The destruction caused by heavy rain, storm surge and high waves induced by Hato and Mangkhut was widespread and serious, as the tracks of Hato and Mangkhut were typical of those that trigger severe storm surges in Hong Kong. When they moved to the south-southwest of Hong Kong, the associated ferocious east to southeasterly winds pushed the sea water towards the shore, and it piled up against the coast. In the case of Hato, with the storm surge coinciding with the high water of the astronomical tide, the aggregated effect resulted in the inundation of many low-lying areas in Hong Kong by sea water. For Mangkhut, although it did not hit Hong Kong during the astronomical high tide, its large circulation and fast-moving speed triggered record-breaking storm surges, generally raising the water level in many parts of Hong Kong by more than 2m.
With respect to wind, both Hato and Mangkhut brought storm-to-hurricane force winds to different parts of the territory. In particular, the wind strength over Hong Kong during the passage of Mangkhut was generally stronger than that of the TCs necessitating the issuance of No. 10 Signals in the last three decades, including Typhoon York in 1999, Severe Typhoon Vicente in 2012 and Super Typhoon Hato in 2017 (see Table 1 and Figure 2). The maximum 60-min mean wind speeds recorded at Waglan Island and Cheung Chau (locations of places in Hong Kong shown in Figure 2; same below) were 161kmh–1 and 157kmh–1, respectively. Both are the second highest records at the corresponding stations, just below the record high of Ellen in 1983. Gusts over 150kmh–1 were registered in most parts of the territory on 16 September 2018, and a maximum gust of 256kmh–1 was recorded at Tate's Cairn (anemometer located 587m above mean sea level), ranking after Wanda in 1962 and Ruby in 1964. A maximum 10-min mean wind of 124kmh–1 was also registered on the North Point anemometer located inside the Victoria Harbour, the first time sustained hurricane force winds were recorded at the station since the start of its operation in 1998.
Table 1. Maximum 10-min mean wind speeds, maximum 60-min mean wind speeds and maximum gusts recorded in Hong Kong during the passage of Mangkhut and tropical cyclones necessitating the issuance of No. 10 Signals in the last three decades (York, Vicente and Hato).
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