The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (August 31) that the arena and two squash courts of Praya Street Sports Centre in Islands District, to be designated as a temporary shelter operated by the respective District Office of the Home Affairs Department, will be temporarily closed from 11pm today until further notice.

     Other facilities in Praya Street Sports Centre may also be temporarily closed at a later time if necessary.

     In view of the latest typhoon situation, the Home Affairs Department has opened the following additional temporary shelters for people in need: 
 

     Please refer to the annex for the full list of temporary shelters that are now open.  For enquiries, please contact the emergency hotline on 2572 8427.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, held a joint press conference today (August 31) on the Government's work to cope with Super Typhoon Saola. The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing; the Acting Secretary for Security, Mr Michael Cheuk; the Director of Highways, Mr Jimmy Chan; the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Alice Cheung; the Commissioner for Transport, Ms Angela Lee; the Director of Drainage Services, Ms Alice Pang; the Director of Buildings, Ms Clarice Yu; the Director of Hong Kong Observatory, Dr Chan Pak-wai; the Deputy Director of Fire Services (Operations) , Mr Wong Chun-yip; and the Head of Greening, Landscape and Tree Management Section of Development Bureau, Miss Kathy Ng, also attended. Following is the transcript of remarks of the press conference:
 
 
Reporter: As the Government has just mentioned that residents may not need to go back to work in case if there are some worst-case scenarios happening. So how would you define the “worst-case scenario” and what are the extreme situations that the Government will consider a work stoppage in the situations? And is there a high chance of issuing a Typhoon Signal No. 10 in the coming few days? The third question is, will there be a need to evacuate the people in the flood-prone areas such as Tai O and Lei Yue Mun, etc?
 
Chief Secretary for Administration: I think evacuation work is now in progress. Our staff has already started work. And then for extreme cases, it means that under the circumstances, members of public are not able to go back to their workplace due to whatever reason – very bad weather condition or very bad traffic condition. And I hope that under such a situation, the employer should be more accommodating to their staff because they need to ensure that their staff – their employees – are safe if they are required to work during the bad weather condition.
 
Director of the Hong Kong Observatory: About the Hurricane Signal no. 10, as I have just mentioned, the tropical cyclone will be closest to Hong Kong later on Friday and early on Saturday. In fact, in our weather forecast, we have already forecasted that hurricane force winds are possible over offshore waters and on high ground. If that really happens, then the issuance of typhoon Signal no. 10 is possible. But then all these still depend on whether the typhoon is really moving according to the forecast track and also its intensity change.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

     As some coastal low-lying areas may be affected by the storm surge brought by the Super Typhoon Saola, the Director of Drainage Services, Ms Alice Pang, inspected the coastal low-lying or windy areas with higher risks to understand the progress of the Drainage Services Department's (DSD's) measures for coping with the storm surge today (August 31).

     During the passage of typhoon, coastal low-lying or windy areas are susceptible to flood risk. A storm surge alert system was established among relevant departments. The DSD has implemented measures at relevant locations to cope with the storm surge. Ms Pang inspected the precautionary measures at Lei Yue Mun including the condition of drainage channels, installation of demountable flood barriers, deployment of pumping facilities and provision of sandbags. In addition, the DSD has also set up temporary pedestrian walkway to minimise the impact of inundated roads to residents.

     To further lower the flood risks in Tsim Sha Tsui district, the DSD is now carrying out the drainage improvement works in Tsim Sha Tsui, which includes the construction of an underground storage tank beneath the Urban Council Centenary Garden and addition of drains at nearby streets to increase the capacity of the drainage system. Ms Pang inspected the progress of construction works and the drainage performance of the completed minor drainage improvement works to ensure the flood prevention measures are operating normally.

     In addition, the DSD utilises smart systems to provide weather information and flood warnings to members of the public. Located in the vicinity of Sha Tin Hoi and Tolo Harbour, the water level of Shing Mun River is susceptible to storm surge, monsoon and high tide, which floods the adjacent low-lying cycle track and pedestrian walkway. Ms Pang inspected DSD's "smart flood prevention system" installed at the riparian area of Shing Mun River, which includes display panel/smart pole installed at locations near the main pedestrian passages alongside Shing Mun River, and QR code installed at the riverside as well as the subways' entrances. The system allows members of the public to obtain real-time water level images, weather and tidal information announced by Hong Kong Observatory and flood warning messages, to enhance the alertness of members of the public at low-lying locations to stay safe. The smart pole also has smart cameras to detect the flooding and pedestrian condition in order to strengthen public's awareness of flood risk.

     Ms Pang also visited the DSD's Emergency Control Centre (ECC) and the backup ECC. When a Red or Black Rainstorm Warning signal is hoisted, a special announcement on Flooding in the northern New Territories is issued, or the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or higher is in force, the DSD's ECC will be activated to coordinate the emergency clearance work for blocked drains and channels, deploy the emergency response teams to handle flooding reports and carry out emergency clearance works for blocked drains and channels.

     DSD reminds members of the public to complete precautionary measures as soon as possible, keep the drains clear at all times and avoid blockage of drainage intakes. When encountering serious flooding, evacuate immediately. If flooding condition is found, they should immediately call the 24-hour Drainage Hotline at 2300 1110.

          

     The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, continued his visit programme to Singapore today (August 31). He called on the Minister for Manpower and the Minister for Home Affairs, as well as visiting a smart prison in Singapore.
      
     In the morning, Mr Tang called on the Minister for Manpower, Dr Tan See Leng, and exchanged views on initiatives on attracting talent and related visa facilitation matters of the two places.
      
     Mr Tang then met with the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr K Shanmugam, and the Internal Security Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to exchange views on the work of police, correctional services and fire services.
      
     Accompanied by the Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Wong Kwok-hing, Mr Tang visited in the afternoon the headquarters of the Singapore Prison Service under the MHA and was briefed by the Commissioner of Prisons, Ms Shie Yong Lee, on enhancing prison management and rehabilitation services such as assisting persons in custody to acquire further studies and receive counselling service through the use of technology. They then visited Institution S1A of the Changi Prison Complex and Selarang Park Community Supervision Centre to learn about technology applications at local prisons.
      
     Mr Tang completed his visit and returned to Hong Kong in the evening.