Always time for a shot: Residents taking photographs along the Victoria Harbour waterfront as strong winds and rain hit Hong Kong. — Bloomberg
Super Typhoon Saola threatened southern China yesterday with some of the strongest winds the region has endured, forcing the megacities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen to effectively shut down.
Tens of millions of people sheltered indoors as hundreds of flights were cancelled, the stock market suspended trading and the start of Hong Kong’s school year was delayed.
With a direct hit on Hong Kong possible, authorities warned they may raise the warning level from T8 to T9 or T10 – the city’s highest alert, which has only been issued 16 times since World War II.
By 2pm yesterday, Saola was 140km east-southeast of Hong Kong, packing sustained winds of 210kph.
Mainland Chinese authorities have already issued the highest typhoon warning for the storm, with the national weather office saying Saola could be among the top five strongest typhoons to hit southern Guangdong province –home to Shenzhen – since 1949.
“The city will open all shelters for the public to take refuge,” said the emergency response department of Shenzhen, home to 17.7 million people.
All public transportation in Shenzhen will be halted by the evening, while trains in and out of Guangdong will be suspended from yesterday to 6pm today.
“Of course, it’s going to affect our life,” said Wu Wenlai, 43, who runs a restaurant in a Shenzhen suburb.
“We have to close the restaurant and send all the workers home for two days.”
Hold on: A man shielding himself from the rain and strong winds brought by ‘Saola’ on Lantau island in Hong Kong. — AFP
“My eldest son was planning to fly to Chengdu for university and his flight has been cancelled,” Wu added.
But he was unfussed by the government warnings: “We are quite used to it. We usually have several typhoons every year.”
Across the mainland border in Hong Kong, authorities warned Saola could skirt within 50km of the territory, causing a storm surge that could lead to “serious flooding”.
“The maximum sea level may be similar to that when Mangkhut hit Hong Kong in 2018,” the city’s weather observatory said.
Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 – the last time Hong Kong issued a T10 warning – left more than 300 people injured in Hong Kong, shredding trees and unleashing floods.
In mainland China, it affected more than three million people in the southern provinces, killing six.
Southern China is frequently hit in summer and autumn by typhoons that form in the warm oceans east of the Philippines and then travel west.
Climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, with more rain and stronger gusts leading to flash floods and coastal damage, experts say.
Hong Kong’s streets were deserted yesterday, though last-minute shoppers filled markets trying to stock up for the weekend.
Businesses around Hong Kong duct-taped glass displays and windows, while sandbags were stacked by the waterfront in Kowloon to prevent flooding.
Hong Kong’s airport authority said more than 300 flights were cancelled yesterday, although 600 were still scheduled. — AFP
