I'd much rather have "hundred of thousands" of agitated, annoyed and safe pax, rather than even 10% of that figure, six-feet under. Casualties have already been reported, and whilst hindsight is just the bees knees for many , there were many warnings that the storm would be severe. I'm sure Cathay would love to have taken a day or two off so they could be lambasted by angry pax, overflowing plane loads, and impossible flights, and operational changes the very next day.