page_title: Typhoon Hope (1979)
section_title: Impact
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Hope (1979) / Impact
caption_attribution_description: English: Super Typhoon Hope of 1979 near landfall in Hong Kong. Its eye was about 45 km east of the New Territories.
context_page_description: Super Typhoon Hope, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ising, was a powerful Category 4 typhoon that killed over 100 people when it struck Hong Kong in 1979. The fifth typhoon and first super typhoon of the 1979 Pacific typhoon season, it formed as a tropical depression southeast of Guam on July 24. It headed to the west-northwest, but upper-level shear from the TUTT caused the depression to dissipate on the 27th. It turned northward then westward, where it regenerated on the 28th. Intensification became more steady, with the depression reaching storm strength on the 28th and typhoon strength on the 29th. On the 31st, Hope reached a peak of 150 mph winds, but land interaction with Taiwan to the north weakened the storm.
  On August 2, Typhoon Hope struck southern China, only 10 miles east of Hong Kong. It weakened over the country while moving westward, but retained its satellite signature. Upon reaching the Bay of Bengal on the 7th, Hope restrengthened to a tropical storm, but moved over India and dissipated on the 8th. In Guangdong Province in China, the typhoon was responsible for around 100 deaths or missing people. Twelve people died along with 260 injured in Hong Kong.
context_section_description: Typhoon Hope spared Taiwan, killing at least four men and disrupted many highways and railroads along the island's southeastern coast. Waves of up to 20 feet (6.1 meters) washed out 150 miles (240 kilometers) of railroad track in one incident. The typhoon caused gale-force winds and heavy rains which caused great property damage there. In the eastern part of Taiwan, 38 houses were collapsed and 132 housed were seriously damaged or completely destroyed. Farmland and fish ponds were devastated. A number of bridges were broken. In Hengchun, southern Taiwan, 500 houses were flooded and one person died. Widespread flooding was also reported in other places over southern Taiwan. Tremendous damage was caused to crops and vegetation. Two people also drowned in fishing towns in the Philippines as Hope brushed the northern part of the archipelago.
  On August 2, Typhoon Hope slammed into Hong Kong bringing 145 mph (230 km/h) winds, tossing freighters about in the harbour and hurling debris through the streets of one of the world's most populated places. The storm flooded low-lying areas and killed at least one person and injured at least 18 other people. Other debris rocketed through the streets and ricocheted off buildings. Parked cars were crushed by snapped trees. A three-year-old girl died when she was swept off the deck of her family's fishing junk by a wind-whipped wave and drowned. Hope sucked windows away from buildings and flooded the interior of many homes. Flimsy shacks that serve as homes from immigrants from China were completely blown away. Several freighters in the Victoria Harbour flew in the air as a result of the high winds. The high winds and giant waves also sent some ships, dragging their anchors and out of control, crashing into one another. The typhoon also triggered mudslides. The typhoon injured at least  260 people. Trees were uprooted, huge glass advertising signs were smashed into little tiny pieces, streets flooded and sheet metal from construction sites hurled through the air. Public transportation, such as domestic flights, were halted. The typhoon also destroyed 200 cylinders of dangerous cyanide.
  Several Vietnamese refugees who were crammed into wooden boats  were feared lost. Most of the 66,000 Vietnamese refugees had already moved ashore before Typhoon Hope struck Hong Kong. 400 refugees in Macao were forced to move away from city. A few days after Typhoon Hope, public transportation resumed, and Hong Kong's international airport resumed regular flight operations. Typhoon Hope was the worst typhoon to hit Hong Kong since Typhoon Rose in 1971.
caption: Typhoon Hope making landfall in southern China.
exif: {}