Chief Secretary Eric Chan explains decision to suspend schools: better to be safe than sorry

已複製連結

Schools are closed today even though there is no heavy rain, following the government's announcement yesterday that schools would be suspended today.

Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan said that announcing the suspension of classes early was a difficult decision. He revealed that he had listened to the Observatory's report the day before yesterday and that the heaviest rainstorm was expected to affect Hong Kong this morning.

Chan posted on social media that a meeting of the "Steering Committee on Response to Extreme Weather" was held on Wednesday. The Observatory predicted that Hong Kong might be affected by heavy rain on Thursday and Friday.

In extreme cases, the daily rainfall was expected to exceed 390 mm, which is about one-sixth of the total rainfall expected for the whole year.

Chan said the Steering Committee believed that it was better to be safe than sorry, and to issue warnings as early as possible based on scientific weather forecasts, and to prepare early response plans and measures.