Hainan resumes production, normal life after super typhoon

Production and daily life in Hainan province are gradually returning to normal after the Super Typhoon Yagi struck the province on Friday. Schools in Hainan province will resume classes in batches.

As of Sunday evening, 1,030 primary and secondary schools, 14 colleges, and 17 vocational schools in the province have restored water and electricity connections and are ready to resume classes, said Chen Zhenhua, deputy director of the Education Department of Hainan province, at a news briefing on Sunday evening.

Chen said that efforts are underway to repair the remaining water and electricity facilities with the goal of having 80 percent of schools in the province fully operational by Monday.

Zhao Youcheng, deputy secretary of the Party committee of Hainan Power Grid Co, said out of the 1,202 apartment complexes impacted by the typhoon on the island, power have been restored to 715 of them, marking a restoration rate over 60 percent.

Chen Xingwu, deputy director of the Hainan Communications Administration, said that as per the current repair situation, the telecommunications industry aims to restore communication services to a basic normal level across the province by Tuesday.

Besides, Haikou's three major water plants resumed water production at 5 pm on Saturday. The Haikou Provincial Water Group Co has dispatched staff to inspect all water supply communities in the city, with the water supply coverage at 88.09 percent as of Sunday noon.

Since Saturday, nearly 500 emergency repair personnel have been mobilized to address the gas facility issues, according to the Hainan Minsheng Pipeline Gas Co. About 90 percent of the affected users in Haikou have had their gas supply restored, with repair efforts continuing as of 11 am on Sunday.

As of Sunday noon, the total area of crop damage in the province reached 1.4096 million mu (about 94,200 hectares), with Wenchang, the landfall site, accounting for about 270,000 mu, and Haikou with 851,100 mu affected. The crop failure amounts to 246,500 tons of produce, with the economic damage estimated at 3.17 billion yuan ($447 million), according to Ma Yuhong, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Hainan province.

In response to the crisis, seven agricultural recovery and production technical guidance teams have been deployed, comprising experts in planting, animal husbandry, and aquaculture. Their mission is to provide guidance for the post-disaster reconstruction efforts in the severely affected cities and counties, Ma said.

No deaths or injuries to animals have been reported in the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden. However, it has been observed that 99 percent of the plants in the park have been either broken or toppled due to the impact of the typhoon. The restoration of the tropical rainforest landscape and micro-ecosystem, which has been meticulously cultivated over the past 28 years, is estimated to require a decade to fully recover, said a representative of the park.