THE GREAT HONG KONG TYPHOON OF 1937.

Part Two

The following is text taken direct from a document of the time, my apologies for any spelling errors; it proved extremely difficult to read.

Many large passenger and cargo vessels weathered the typhoon in harbour without damage, the better-known being the P&O vessels Corfu & Ranpura and N.D.L.'s Gneisman.

The tide rose 18ft against 7ft 6 inches normal height. The Praya being under water which came up as far as Des Veoux Road. The Post Office basement and shops in Connaught Road were flooded. On the mainland sea water reached the lower end of Nathan Road. The force of the wind caused small fish to be blown many yards from the sea on to buildings 90ft above the ground.

Typhoon's path

During the typhoon a tidal wave overwhelmed the fishing village of Tai Po, New Territories, and demolished practically all the buildings and fishing boats with heavy loss of life. The wave was said to have been 18ft high, and swept into Tide Cove and washed away almost a mile of the railway embankment, the council Canton was suspended for ten days.

Pressure reading Wave height reading

The Aberdeen fishing fleet of about forty junks foundered at sea with only five survivors being picked up five days later by the P&O cargo liner SS Mirzapore. These men did survive at least four hundred and fifty had been drowned. Other wreckage proved that thousands of the floating population lost their lives. Much damage was done on the bathing beaches and the Lady Lido at Repulse Bay was blown ashore. Damage to local property was comparatively light but it was estimated that the number of lives lost exceeded ten thousand. The typhoon was the severest in the history of the colony, which dates from the year 1841.

LIST OF VESSELS NUMBERED ON MAP DRIVEN ASHORE DURING TYPHOON.

No. 1 Comte Verde 18,765 g	No. 2 Asama Maru 17,000 g	No 3 Talamba 8,018 g
No. 4 Hong Peng 4,055 g	No. 5 Tymeric 5,228 g	No. 6 Sheng Lee 3,087 g
No. 7 Feng Lee 2,061 g	No 8 HMS Cornflower	No. 9 Kalgan 2,655 g
No. 10 Eng Lee 1,394 g	No. 11 As Lee 1,O68 g	No. 12 Hain Lee 1,174 g
No. 13 Shenandoah 720 g	No. 14 Bonneville 4,665 g	No. 15 Moa Lee 1,946 g
No. 16 Gertrude Varak 5,038 g	No. 17 Van Heutse 4,588 g	No. 18 Shuntien 3,039 g
No. 19 Dahun 2,709 g	No. 20 Kausing 3,790 g	No. 21 Hsing Ming 2,133 g
No. 22 Luhsing 4,130 g	No. 23 Hzing Ping 1,833 g	No. 24 Hunan 2,827 g
No. 25 Kwangchow 2,620 g	No. 26 Tehuing 1,625 g	No. 27 Ferry
No. 28 Emmy 3,895 g	No. 29 Produce 1,170 g	No. 30 Tinsang 398 g