Chow Yun Fat cleans up Hong Kong streets after Typhoon Hato

Hong Kong was hit by “Typhoon Hato” on Wednesday (Aug 23) with hurricane force winds and heavy rains, causing all activities to be suspended temporarily. As the storm strengthened, the Hong Kong Observatory issued the strongest hurricane signal of level 10, the first time it has done so in five years.

The typhoon left streets flooded and cluttered with uprooted trees and falling debris, hindering traffic and forcing thousands to flee to shelters.

Many stayed indoors to avoid the adverse weather but a sight to be commended would be 62-year-old Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat, who was seen picking up branches to clear and clean up the roads after the strong typhoon.

On the afternoon of the hurricane, a picture circulated on Instagram of a netizen with Chow Yun Fat on Waterloo Road in Kowloon. The photo showed the actor wearing a simple hat, windbreaker jacket and the person who shared the picture said that he saw the veteran actor picking up fallen branches and twigs that have been blown onto the road to clear the path. The photo has since been deleted.

The 62-year-old later confirmed that it was him, and said that he was driving home when he saw the mess left by Typhoon Hato. According to him, tree branches were blocking the road and passing cars had to make a diversion just to get by, causing the traffic conditions to be very dangerous.

“There were many fallen trees blocking the road so I got out of the car and picked them up so that people could use the roads smoothly again,” said the actor.

The actor recently returned to Hong Kong from Canada where he was filming an upcoming Hong Kong action film Project Gutenberg.

The typhoon left many lives of citizens disrupted, and Hong Kong actor Julian Cheung and wife Anita Yuen were no exception. The couple had to risk the winds to drive out and buy food for their son as they did not have enough at home. They even broadcasted their journey live on social media.

The broadcast showed Julian driving with Anita in the passenger seat and their video footage gave the public a glimpse of the roads being filled with numerous branches and rubbish bins blown down by the wind. When faced with a road block due to a fallen tree, the 45-year-old initially wanted to head home and bring his tools to clean it up but eventually decided to change his route and went to another shop to buy their food.

After heading home, Anita received many phone interviews and advised everyone to be especially careful during this time and avoid heading out. She said that it was difficult to get around due to the many sealed up roads and her family just went into the first store that was opened, got their items quickly and left.

She also thanked the officials who were willing to brave the weather and tidy up the roads to ensure that citizens could get around safely, saying that she greatly appreciated their actions.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled in the wake of Typhoon Hato, which caused widespread damage and 17 deaths.

Photos: PBE Media

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