Typhoon Wanda (1962)

During its passage of Hong Kong, Wanda produced 263 mm (10.4 in) of rainfall. The typhoon moved ashore during the daily high tide, resulting in a storm surge of at least 5 m (17 feet) above normal, especially around Tolo Harbour, which caused widespread flooding and damaged or destroyed thousands of huts and houses in Sha Tin and Tai Po.^[3] The strong winds and waves blew fishing vessels from the water onto the streets.^[1] Storm surge also destroyed Sha Tin Airfield. Maximum sustained winds were 145 km/h (90 mph 10-minute sustained), while gusts reached 260 km/h (161 mph), stronger than any previous typhoon on record. Additionally, the lowest pressure during its passage was 953.2 mbar, which was the lowest on record at the RHKO.^[3]

Overall, the typhoon caused 434 deaths and left 72,000 people homeless. There was never a finalized damage total, although it was estimated in the millions of dollars.^[1][3] Over 2,000 boats in the colony were either wrecked or damaged.^[3] As damage was so severe in Hong Kong, there were little reports of impact elsewhere, although the storm did move across portions of southern China.^[1]

Typhoon Wanda routed in Hong Kong near Cheung Chau, to the right side of most parts of Hong Kong, so the strong wind blowing into Tolo Harbour made the sea level rise, therefore Sha Tin (area near Tolo Harbour) became the hardest hit.^[5][6] Since a large number of people settled in squatter huts on low-lying coastal areas or precarious slopes and fishermen lived in fishing boats, it caused large casualties when the typhoon hit Hong Kong. Some survivors claim that the huge waves covered up their homes, sweeping the squatter huts and dumping homes in front of them. They had to run to the railway station in a higher sea level, but the flood was also deep in the knees.^[7][8] It is estimated that one in five squatter huts was destroyed or damaged by the typhoon in Sha Tin, one of the gathering place of squatter huts in Hong Kong at that time. Approximately 3,000 squatter huts were damaged in total.^[3] The roads were blocked by a large number of damaged squatter huts and the British army was needed to help rescue the residents and clean up the road.^[9] The heavy flooding increased the difficulty of the rescue and clean up. Eight hundred and sixty-nine acres of farm land were flooded with sea water, over 30 percent (277 acres) were in Sha Tin, and almost 65 percent (179 acres) of the low-lying farm in Sha Tin were still affected two months later.^[3] Shops and stores were also heavily damaged by the flood, many goods from stores were drifting on the street and it was difficult for them to reopen in the short term.^[10]

• Other tropical cyclones of the same name