Super Typhoon Yagi Leaves Hainan United in Recovery

Super Typhoon Yagi, which swept through Haikou over the past weekend, left a trail of destruction. The streets of Hainan’s capital city were covered with fallen trees, billboards and other debris. Water, electricity, and telecom services were cut off and many balconies, windows, vehicles, and other properties were damaged.

David Janke and Lara Netherlands (center) clean the street near the Bogui Community in Haikou on September 11. PHOTO: WANG SHENGZHE

When professional rescue workers and local volunteers began cleaning up the roads, many foreigners living and working in Haikou and even tourists and recent arrivals also joined them.

Lara Netherlands, a South African media content strategist who has been working in Haikou for 6 years, shoveled branches at a street near the Bogui Community with friends despite the rain.

Netherlands said she and her friends were traumatized by Yagi and realized lots of other people must be feeling the same as all humans are helpless in the face of natural disasters. Therefore, she said she wanted to do something she could do to help lessen others’ trauma.

Yagi made landfall in Wenchang, Haikou’s neighboring city, at 4:20 pm on Sep. 6. Then it moved into Haikou. As of 5:00 pm on September 7, over 1 million people had been affected. Over 105,000 people were evacuated, more than 209,000 were rescued. More than 400 houses collapsed, and over 32,000 houses were damaged.

Yagi devasted trees, felling more than 167,000 trees. It also impacted over 56,000 hectares of crops, causing a direct economic loss of CNY 26.3 billion (approximately USD 3.7 billion), Haikou mayor Ding Hui said.

“I can’t connect communities into the power grids, I can’t reroot 168,000 (fallen) trees, I can’t fix water pipes, but I can do voluntary caring helping individuals and hope to help people to cope with trauma from the typhoon,” Netherlands said. “Haikou has been my home for 6 years. It has been a place where I have personally grown. So, it is my obligation to give back to this community.”

David Janke and Lara Netherlands work with local volunteers. PHOTO: WANG SHENGZHE

David Janke, a British-born bilingual interpreter, also joined in the clean-up as it needed enormous effort despite the large number of people on the job. We are not Chinese citizens but the citizens of this city, Janke said. “So, I feel it’s my duty to join in volunteering and to participate in the clean-up.”

He was amazed by people’s spirit of community and getting together. “As soon as the typhoon was over, a lot of people came out there cleaning the streets, picking up trees and everything. I am really amazed at how fast Haikou is recovering,” he said.

Tommy Coleman puts leaves and other debris into a garbage bag. PHOTO: WANG SHENGZHE

Tommy Coleman from the U.S. who is an English language teacher and a social media influencer appreciated the work done by the local government and the people. Haikou’s Foreign Affairs Office issued typhoon bulletins regularly, keeping foreigners updated about what was happening.

“To be honest, I am not surprised by the fast recovery from the typhoon damage here. The Chinese are very united, they are working together,” Coleman said. “In some other countries, it might take several weeks before you get things back to normal. But in Hainan, in China, they are getting it done quickly.”

Besides residents, visitors and new arrivals also joined in the voluntary work.

“I also see Haikou as my home, that’s why I am eager to help the city after the typhoon damage,” said Robert Adolf, a German social media influencer who recently moved to Haikou to start his business, “I want to bring it back to its original beauty.”

Robert Adolf (R) takes part in the community clean-up with a local volunteer. PHOTO: WANG SHENGZHE

Adolf was amazed that so many people came out to clean up and cut the fallen trees the day after Yagi passed. He said it seemed people were not depressed by the typhoon damage but took positive action instead, which was really unique. Such optimism and volunteerism will attract more international tourists and investors to be city for vacation and to do business, he said.

Foreign students chip in to remove fallen branches. PHOTO: YANG YUKUN

Foreign students enrolled in Hainan’s universities also chipped in.

Tsvik Evgenii, a Russian student from Zhonghe College of Hainan University, said he and his peers were the part of this community. Restoring the community to its normal state was their duty. So, they came out to clear the road obstructions immediately after Yagi passed.

Tsvik Evgenii cuts a fallen branch so that it can be removed easily. PHOTO: YANG YUKUN

“The university, teachers, and other staff help us and support us. Now it is the time for us to give back,” Saifutdinov Iskandar, another Russian student from the same unit, said. “All people here are one family.”