Disaster risk reduction and preparedness for the increasing tropical cyclone risk – Hong Kong Perspective

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most destructive weather systems. Various hazards associated with TCs, such as extreme winds, heavy rain, storm surge and flooding, can incur multiple casualties and significant damages to property and infrastructure of the affected areas. Against the background of climate change, the latest assessments by the Expert Teams of the World Meteorological Organization and Typhoon Committee suggested that the TC intensity, precipitation rate and the proportion of intense TCs in the western North Pacific (WNP) are expected to increase in a warming climate. Moreover, the sea level rise together with the projected increase in TC intensity will exacerbate storm surge and coastal inundation risks. Review of some recent studies further supports the findings of increasing TC risk in the WNP under climate change and provides more insights on various related topics, such as poleward migration, landfalling intensity, rapid intensification and TC induced precipitation. In the context of extreme weather warnings, the United Nations launched the “Early Warnings for All (EW4All)” initiative in 2022 which is built on four pillars with a view to delivering effective and inclusive multi-hazard early warning systems for everyone on Earth. In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has implemented various weather and climate services over the past century with a number of the ongoing and recent services echoing with the four pillars of the EW4All initiative, especially for TC and rainstorm related hazards. Some of HKO’s exemplary services with a focus on disaster risk reduction and preparedness for TCs are concisely presented in this paper for reference.