CB was right, the weather is beautiful, cooler, and clear.
The storm ? A faint memory, until refreshed next time, probably within a week or two, because this is the typhoon season ... wedding to go to tonight, followed by games tomorrow ... nice to have had three long weekends in a roll, two officially sanctioned and dictate, and one decreed by gods.
news.scmp.com
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Saturday, July 7, 2001
The cost of Typhoon Utor's near miss? $512 per person
JON OGDEN
Hong Kong was counting the cost of Typhoon Utor's near-miss - and it came to $512 for every man, woman and child, according to one estimate.
Although the typhoon missed Hong Kong by 90km and petered out into a severe tropical storm at dawn yesterday, much of the SAR came to a standstill, with the No 8 storm signal raised until 1.40 pm.
Financial analyst Louis Wong Wai-kit came up with the estimate by reducing Hong Kong's annual gross domestic product of $1,270 billion to a daily figure. He then divided it by the population of 6.8 million.
The export of goods, which makes up the bulk of gross domestic product, was halted by the closure of the SAR's ports, while the export of services was badly dented with many companies in the sector shut for the day or operating with skeleton staff. Personal consumption took a huge hit, with many residents deciding to stay at home all day, as did government consumption with most state firms and offices closed for the day.
The stock market also lost a full session, representing lost turnover of an estimated $7.5 billion and $27 million in lost commissions, according to Mr Wong. That meant an average loss of $54,000 for each of the SAR's roughly 500 stockbroking firms.
Howard Gorges, vice-chairman of brokers South China Online, said: "It certainly must have some impact for quite a lot of companies . . . it will be coming out of your profit margins."
Dong Tao, senior economist at Credit Suisse First Boston, said the typhoon's main economic impact would be on the consumer price index. Prices for some vegetables doubled overnight.
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