Hong Kong is up and running again after a forced shutdown early yesterday morning (August 2) when Typhoon Nida struck.

Hong Kong residents were able to go about their daily business by midday yesterday, when officials ended the rainstorm alert.

Malaysian Wong Wei-Shen, 29, who lives and works on the island said the authorities had issued a tropical cyclone warning signal No.  8 at 8:40pm on Monday night.

“It was a little windy when I left work and it was drizzling, nothing unusual just like if I were in Malaysia,” she said

In anticipation of Typhoon Nida, thousands of workers were evacuated from an offshore oil platform and tunnels and bridges that are under construction to link the territory with two other cities.

Hundreds took refuge in government shelters when torrential rain and gusts of over 150kph hit the island.

“The rain got heavier by midnight, and it was still raining when I woke up at 7am yesterday.

“It seemed windy and there were leaves and rubbish scattered on the roads,” Wong added.

Hong Kong Observatory dropped the tropical cyclone warning signal to No. 3 at about 1pm yesterday, allowing people to return to work.

Postgraduate student Lim Wey Wen only felt minimal impact of the typhoon as she chose to stay home.

“The Hong Kong Exchange was closed, but some went back to work after the storm signal was lowered,” she said.

Australian student Jennifer Lee, 21, said from her experience as an islander, the hard-hitting typhoon was normal for them.

“Typhoons are quite typical in Hong Kong and Taiwan in summer, but we are cautious nonetheless,” said Lee, who is currently travelling around Taiwan.

Another student, who has been here since June, said the electricity and communication lines were working as usual despite the typhoon.

“Shops and the MTR (Hong Kong’s subway system) were closed for a while during the heavy rain and wind. People crowded the shops yesterday to stock up,” she said.

BEIJING – Some major rivers, including parts of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, will remain at high risk of flooding in August due to larger than average rainfall, the state flood control authority said on Wednesday.

Adding to the danger, about three strong typhoons are forecast to make landfall in China this month.

“The rainfall forecast for August is higher than average, especially in Southwest, East and part of Northeast China,” Zhang Jiatuan, a spokesman for the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said on Wednesday.

Because of that, there is a high risk of flooding in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, middle stretches of the Yellow River, and major rivers in the Northeast like the Songhua and Liaohe, Zhang said.

With the lasting influence of a superstrong El Nino and an approaching La Nina, which could bring extreme weather and unpredictable precipitation, the month will be a critical period for flood prevention, he said.

On Monday, the flood control authority said water levels in the lower reaches of the Yangtze and major lakes in its basin – such as Dongting and Poyang – had subsided beneath the alert level.

At Three Gorges Dam, the water dropped 5.68 metres lower than its high point of 158.5 metres on July 22, reducing the danger of flooding along the whole Yangtze, the authority said.

Water levels climbed above the alert level on June 30, which brought the most severe flooding since 1999.

Adding to the danger in August, Zhang said, forecasters are predicting a more-than-average two to three typhoons will make landfall.

They are expected to be stronger than usual, bringing the possibility that they will travel farther to the north.

The central government has made flood control a top priority this summer.

From March 21, the start of the flood season, to July 29, China had seen its second-heaviest rainfall since 1954, with 28 deluges, said Chen Lei, minister of water resources.

Some northern provinces, like Hebei, had sudden and severe flooding in July.

Flooding in Hebei that began on July 19 had affected more than 9.04 million people and left 130 dead and 110 missing as of July 23, the provincial government said.

Zhang conceded that it’s hard to forecast flooding in the small rivers in northern regions like Hebei, but said those regions should increase their readiness to deal with floods for the rest of the season.

JAKARTA – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto has stressed that the government would not consider abolishing the death penalty, and therefore there was no need to evaluate prevailing laws.

“This is our law. Despite some pressures on us, we have our national legal jurisdiction,” Wiranto said on Tuesday.

The death penalty is a harsh punishment, he said, but it is needed to protect many people from the dangers of narcotics and related crimes.

Wiranto’s statement ran directly against that of Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, who said that the government and House of Representatives planned to evaluate the death penalty.

Human rights groups and the international community have long urged the government to abolish or adopt a moratorium on the death penalty, saying that it is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which has also failed to create a deterrent effect.

Indonesia executed four drug convicts in the early hours of last Friday, with further legal processes sparing the lives of 10 other death-row convicts who were slated to be killed.