As Hong Kong hunkers down for Super Typhoon Saola, the Post looks back at the city’s most ferocious storms

The storm resulted in serious flooding locations such as Heng Fa Chuen and Shek O in the eastern and southern quarters of Hong Kong Island. Authorities were also forced to evacuate residents from Lei Yue Mun in southeast Kowloon

During the day, a tide with a height of up to 3.88 metres (12.7 feet) was seen in Quarry Bay, only 3km from Heng Fa Chuen.

The storm also left insurance companies in Hong Kong with a hefty bill totalling HK$3.1 billion (US$397 million).

In the aftermath, authorities announced a shake-up of typhoon guidelines for workplace commuters to prevent a repeat of the travel chaos that followed the storm.

Residents were told to wait two hours after a storm subsided, instead of attempting to travel immediately after an all-clear was given.

Hong Kong to consider upgrading T8 typhoon signal between 6pm and 10pm on Friday

Typhoon Hato

Packing gusts of more than 193km/h (119mph), Hato surpassed the preceding No 10 storm, Typhoon Vicente, in terms of strength.

Sea swells measuring up to 3.85 metres in height promoted the evacuation of dozens from Tai O fishing village.

The storm also knocked down a 150-year-old Chinese banyan on Tsim Sha Tsui’s Park Lane shopping boulevard, one of nearly 700 trees felled as Hato passed the city.

Macau faired even worse during the storm, which triggered a power blackout for hours and left five people dead.

Typhoon Vicente

The No 10 typhoon was the first such storm since 1999, resulting in at least 138 people being injured and about 266 residents admitted to 24 temporary shelters when it struck on July 24, 2012.

Vicente features wind speeds of 130km/h and knocked down 1,400 trees, as well as leading to seven reports of flooding and landslides.

The storm also forced some commuters to spend the night at East Rail stations after falling trees damaged overhead cables near Tai Po, the first time such an incident had ever been recorded.

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The history of deadly Hong Kong typhoons that caused widespread devastation

The history of deadly Hong Kong typhoons that caused widespread devastation

Typhoon York

The most powerful storm to encroach upon Hong Kong since 1983, the typhoon caused the deaths of two men and left more than 500 people injured on September 16, 1999.

York also shattered more than 400 panes of glass in Wan Chai as it assailed locations such as the Revenue Tower and Immigration Tower, while a nearby crane toppled 30 storeys from a building on Jaffe Road.

The Observatory issued a No 10 signal that remained in place for 11 hours, the longest period since records began in 1946. The storm had also caused billions of dollars in economic losses by the time an all-clear went out.

Typhoon Wanda

The typhoon is also the deadliest on record after it caused 183 deaths and 388 injuries, as well as resulting in 108 missing persons and leaving another 72,000 homeless.

The day of the storm saw heavy rainfall and resulted in about 1.5 billion gallons of water pouring into local reservoirs in less than 48 hours.

Wanda is a three-time unbeaten record holder with a 60-minute average wind speed of 133km/h, a gust wind speed of 259km/h and a low instantaneous sea-level pressure of 953.2 hectopascals.