China issued its highest warning on Thursday as Super Typhoon Saola closes in on Hong Kong and the mainland’s southern coast, with several cities delaying the start of the school year as a precaution.
Saola’s wind speed exceeded 200 km/h Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (1000 GMT) and the storm is about 370 km southeast of Hong Kong, according to local meteorological authorities.
On Friday, it will bring “heavy showers and strong winds” with a threat level raised to “T8”, on a scale of ten.
On the mainland, China issued the most severe warning of its four-tier system, with the country’s National Meteorological Center predicting the typhoon would make landfall “somewhere in the coastal areas stretching from Huilai to Hong Kong” in earlier Friday afternoon.
Train services have been suspended across Guangdong, the official Xinhua news agency reported, while several cities in the southern province, including Shantou, Shanwei, Jieyang and Chaozhou, postponed the start of the school year to Monday.
Cathay Pacific airline said it canceled all flights to and from Hong Kong between 0600 GMT Friday and 0200 GMT Saturday.
Its subsidiary, low-cost airline HK Express, announced it was canceling 70 flights to and from Hong Kong on Friday and Saturday. Hong Kong Airlines has announced that it has canceled more than 30 flights and new airline Greater Bay Airlines has announced that it is canceling twelve.
Low-lying areas of Hong Kong could experience “severe flooding” and if Saola bypasses the southern territory, the storm surge “could be similar” to that experienced during Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018.
Mangkhut, which raised the high alert for Typhoon “T10” in Hong Kong, caused severe damage to the city and injured more than 300 people.
Saola displaced thousands earlier this week as it crossed the northern Philippines, but no casualties have been reported so far.
01/09/2023 08:11:49 – Hong Kong (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
