PLA working to clean up damage left by deadly Typhoon Hato

World Today

PLA working to clean up damage left by deadly Typhoon Hato

The People’s Liberation Army is working with residents along China’s southeastern coast to clean up the damage from Typhoon Hato, which has killed at least 22 people since making landfall on Wednesday.

CGTN’s Wu Haojun reports.

Friday, the government called in the People’s Liberation Army to help with disaster relief in the wake of Typhoon Hato. Working alongside Macao residents, they cleared roads and opened access to the worst-hit areas.

Residential buildings were inundated, trash was piled up, and traffic on some roads was paralyzed.

According to those in charge, however, the hard work of cleaning up is worth the effort.

“This place was a mess with piles of trash everywhere when we arrived,” Deputy Garrison Commander Liu Shsusheng said. “After two hours of work, now the place is basically back in order.”

Residents of Macao welcomed their efforts, saying they need to get back to work quickly.

It’s the first time that residents here are seeing PLA disaster relief operations.

“It’s real nice for them to come and help us, because we need it,” local school teacher Jessica Lao said.

The mobilization came at the request of the Macao Special Administrative Region’s government, amid mounting criticism that authorities were unprepared for the severity of the storm.

According to the Macao Civil Emergency Response Center, 10 people were killed and 200 injured after the powerful typhoon struck the area on Wednesday. It was the worst storm to hit Macao in 49 years.

 The PLA Garrison in Macao said it will make every effort to help the city get back to normal.

“We feel the same as Macao residents, as they are suffering from this disaster,” PLA officer Zhu Yuxi said. “We’ll dedicate ourselves to the relief work together with Macao residents and the SAR government, so as to bring life and work back to normal as soon as possible.”