Flights cancelled, businesses shut in Hong Kong, Guangdong as Typhoon
Saola nears
Send a link to a friend
[September 01, 2023]
By Farah Master, Joyce Zhou and David Kirton
HONG KONG (Reuters) -The Asian financial hub of Hong Kong and China's
neighbouring populous province of Guangdong cancelled hundreds of
flights on Friday as fears of powerful Typhoon Saola forced some
mainland cities to shut businesses, schools and financial markets.
Packing winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph), the typhoon could make
landfall late on Friday or early on Saturday in Guangdong, and rate
among the five strongest to hit the southern province since 1949,
Chinese authorities have warned.
All flights with Hong Kong between 2 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Friday and 10
a.m. (0200 GMT) on Saturday have been cancelled, said Cathay Pacific,
the city's flagship carrier.
More than 100 people set to fly on Friday afternoon were dismayed to
learn many of their flights had been cancelled when they tried to check
in at Hong Kong's airport.
"It's very sad for me because I am not able to attend my daughter's oath
taking," said a tearful Ledenila Barizo, 54 who had been due to fly to
the Philippines, as she paced in front of the airline desk.
The weather will deteriorate rapidly as the typhoon makes landfall, Hong
Kong weather officials said, with chances of storm surges of about 3
metres (10 feet) higher than the normal tide.
The maximum water levels could reach a record, they added, with a chance
that the city's wind signal could be raised to its second highest
between 6 p.m (1000 GMT) and 8 p.m. (1200 GMT)
Weather authorities in China have said Saola could make landfall along
the coast between the cities of Huidong and Taishan. Hong Kong and Macau
lie in the centre of that stretch.
"We can see that the eye of the typhoon will pass very close to Hong
Kong," office worker Wai Yi said as she and her husband strolled by the
sea in an eastern part of Hong Kong, which shut all schools, though
Friday was the first day of term for many.
"I'm a bit concerned and hope it won't cause too many casualties."
Saola is one of three tropical cyclones to form in the northwest Pacific
Ocean and South China Sea.
The second, Haikui, is approaching Taiwan, set to hit its east coast on
Sunday before heading towards China's Fujian province, the island's
weather officials said. Kirogi, the most distant from land, was
classified as a tropical storm.
[to top of second column]
|
People brave strong winds as Super
Typhoon Saola approaches, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2023.
REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
DESTRUCTIVE WINDS
Authorities suspended trains services in Guangdong from 8 p.m. (1200
GMT) on Friday to 6 p.m. on (1000 GMT) Saturday, while the cities of
Shenzhen and Guangzhou have already shut schools.
Shenzhen, a city of more 17 million, also suspended work, businesses
and financial markets from Friday afternoon, warning that
destructive winds could lash it through Saturday.
"Of course I'm worried, it's forecast to be a big one and I want to
get home," a delivery driver surnamed Lu said on a busy day for the
city's supermarkets, many set to close early.
By 11 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Friday, the airports in Shenzhen and the
nearby city of Zhuhai had cancelled hundreds of flights.
As a safety precaution, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge linking
the three cities will also shut on Friday.
In Guangdong, officials of the Taishan nuclear power plant said it
had halted outdoor operations and transferred out vulnerable
materials, with emergency staff placed on duty.
In the gambling hub of Macau, weather officials said they would
raise its wind warning level to the second highest on Friday, and
the highest early on Saturday.
The destruction caused by typhoons depends on how long they linger
over land, one expert said, citing the example of Tropical Storm
Rumbia in 2018.
"Despite its moderate intensity, (it) had an exceptionally long
lifespan, lasting a total of 132 hours, with over three days spent
over mainland China," said climatologist Shao Sun of the University
of California, Irvine.
(Reporting by Farah Master and Joyce Zhou in Hong Kong, David Kirton
in Shenzhen, Bernard Orr, Ryan Woo, Ethan Wang in Beijing and the
Beijing newsroom; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei;
Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Clarence Fernandez)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |