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Editorial | Super Typhoon Ragasa made need to step up action against storm chasers clear
Stricter laws may help but the government also must reinforce warnings against storm chasing, boosting public education and law enforcement
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Not for the first time, this typhoon season, Hong Kong has cause for serious reflection on the frequency and severity of typhoons attributed to global warming and the consequences of being reckless or unaware of the dangers to life and property. There is much in the experience of Super Typhoon Ragasa from which to draw lessons.
Our thoughts are with the family of the woman and her five-year-old son who were rescued after a storm wave washed them off the Chai Wan waterfront. Sadly, this was not an isolated example of people who found – or put – themselves in a dangerous situation, such as when a wind-driven ocean surge encroached on normally safe waterfronts.
Other examples were captured in photos across the media. Dozens of people appeared to view T10 – the Observatory’s highest-level storm signal – as an event, even a diversion, worthy of a photographic excursion, despite the warning to stay indoors.
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Some are understandably curious to experience and want to capture first-hand the awesome power of nature, and to share it with relatives and friends at home and abroad – or just anyone. Hence the man in the Post’s front page photograph, who was found sitting on a waterfront bench, about to be engulfed by a wall of water, and who, thankfully, survived being swept off his feet apparently without serious injury. It could easily have been a life lost.
The authorities, rightly, do not take a sanguine view of happy endings. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung says he will consider new laws to curb storm chasing. He also warned that including children in such potentially dangerous activities could constitute neglect. That is not to mention the risk to emergency responders in rescuing people from stormy waters.
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The new legislation would add to a measure targeting surfers and storm chasers with a HK$2,000 (US$256) fine and up to 14 days’ jail for entering a public beach or other area closed by the government during extreme weather.
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