Private Story
The Day, and The Days After
THE DAY, AND THE DAYS AFTER At around midday of August 23 of 2017, Macau felt the violent force of nature as it had not been for more than 50 years. With winds exceeding 200 km per hour, the strongest ever since there have been records, Typhoon Hato swept across Macau, bringing chaos and destruction, and resulting in more than 200 injured and at least 10 dead. Through the alleys, streets and avenues, there was a silent cry as the city's inhabitants tried to come to terms with the reality of the aftermath. During the following days, the city ran out of water and electricity, and tons of garbage was strewn in the streets. Faced with a lack of human resources in the territory, the People's Liberation Army came out to the streets, for the first time since 1999, to help out the local authorities. More than 3000 volunteers joined them to start cleaning the city. In three days, more than 7.1 tons of garbage was collected. Volunteers were also responsible for the distribution of water and food, especially to the elderly living in the upper floors of buildings with 35 levels, where electricity and water were nonexistent for days. |
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