Boats with Chinese and Hong Kong flags are berthed at the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter as Super Typhoon Saola approaches Hong Kong on September 1, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Most of Hong Kong and other parts of southern China ground to a near standstill on September 1 with classes and flights cancelled as Super Typhoon Saola edged closer.

The typhoon could make a landfall in southern China and many workers stayed at home. Students in various cities saw the start of their school year postponed to next week. Hong Kong’s stock market trading was suspended and more than 400 flights were cancelled or delayed in the key centre for regional business and travel.

Mainland Chinese rail authorities ordered all trains entering or leaving Guangdong province to be suspended from Friday night to early evening Saturday, state media CCTV reported.

The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city’s weather system, early Friday. Its forecast said Saola — with maximum sustained winds of 210 km (130 miles) per hour — would be closest to the financial hub on Friday night and Saturday morning, skirting within about 50 km (30 miles) south of the city’s shopping district Tsim Sha Tsui.

The observatory’s director, Chan Pak-wai, said on Thursday the alert might be upgraded to a No. 10 signal if the strength of the winds reached hurricane levels. The No. 10 hurricane signal is the highest warning under its system and was last hoisted when Super Typhoon Mangkhut hit Hong Kong in 2018.

Chan expected the winds would gradually weaken on Saturday as the typhoon moves away from Hong Kong.

The observatory warned serious flooding might occur in low-lying coastal areas and that the maximum water level might be similar to that when Mangkhut felled trees and tore scaffolding off buildings under construction in the city.

As the city braced for heavy rains and strong winds on Friday morning, about 190 people sought refuge at temporary shelters, with some ferry and bus services halted. Residents living in low-lying areas had placed sand bags at their doors to prevent their homes being flooded. The government received two reports of fallen trees and three flooding cases. One man was injured during the typhoon period and sought treatment at a public hospital.

Weather authorities in the nearby casino hub of Macao also warned of flooding, forecasting that the water level might reach up to 1.5 metres (5 feet) in low-lying areas on Saturday morning. The cross-border bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai city would be closed in mid-afternoon.

In the technology and finance hub Shenzhen, its emergency management bureau ordered to suspend work and businesses starting from late afternoon, as the typhoon was expected to make landfall in the city or its nearby areas on Friday night. All entries to highways in the city would be banned starting from 7 p.m. until further notice, except for rescue crews.

China’s National Meteorological Center said Saola could make landfall from Huidong County to Taishan city in Guangdong province, neighbouring Hong Kong, between Friday night and Saturday morning. But it also did not rule out it would move west near the shore of central Guangdong.

Another storm, Haikui, was gradually moving toward the coastal areas of eastern China. Coupled with the influence of Saola, parts of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces would see strong winds and heavy rains, according to a website run by China Meteorological Administration. By Thursday night, some 1,00,000 people living in dangerous areas in Fujian were relocated to other safer places.

Saola passed just south of Taiwan on Wednesday before turning to mainland China, with the storm’s outer bands hitting the island’s southern cities with torrential rain. The typhoon also lashed the Philippines earlier this week, displacing tens of thousands of people in the northern part of the islands because of flooding.

In recent months, China had some of the heaviest rains and deadliest flooding in years across various regions, with scores killed, including in outlying mountainous parts of the capital Beijing.

A woman walks in heavy rain after Typhoon Saola moves away in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese state media report that at least 121 passenger trains are suspending services in anticipation of the arrival of Typhoon Saola, while people in coastal areas of southern China were being warned to stay away from the coastline.

The suspensions on key lines running from north to south as well as on regional networks will begin on August 31 and continue through September 6, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China’s National Meteorological Centre said Saola was moving toward the coast at a speed of about 15 kph (9 mph) and is due to make landfall on Friday afternoon in the southern province of Guangzhou with sustained winds of 119 kph (74 mph) and gusts of up to 220 kph (137 mph).

The storm will then travel west down the coast into the Guangxi region before curving south out to sea between Saturday night and Sunday morning, gradually weakening as it goes.

The weather centre has already issued a red alert for potentially destructive winds and possible flooding, with some areas expected to receive up to 200 millimetres (8 inches) of rain.

Other typical safety precautions include recalling fishing boats to port and moving people who work on coastal fish and shrimp farms further inland, but no figures on evacuations were immediately released.

As the storm moved closer to Hong Kong, the city’s leader, John Lee, said in a Facebook post that he had requested various government Departments to plan ahead and urged residents to take precautionary measures.

Many students were due to begin their new school year on Friday, and it was unclear whether they would be able to do so.

The Hong Kong Observatory warned of squally showers, strengthening winds and a possible storm surge in low-lying areas of the crowded financial centre.

It urged residents to avoid water sports and stay away from coastal areas. Saola passed just south of Taiwan on Wednesday before turning to mainland China, with the storm’s outer bands hitting the island’s southern cities with heavy rain and strong winds.

The typhoon also lashed the Philippines earlier this week, without any reports of casualties so far. However, in the northern part of the islands, low-lying villages were flooded and nearly 50,000 people displaced, including 35,000 villagers, who fled to government-run evacuation centres.

Seaports suspended inter-island ferry services due to rough seas, and more than a hundred houses were damaged.

Meanwhile, a second storm, Haikui, is brewing near Japan’s Ryukyu islands and will develop into a typhoon as it moves toward the Chinese coast, where it is expected to make landfall south of Shanghai on Sunday morning with sustained winds of 165 kph (102 mph).

The storms follow some of the heaviest rains and deadliest flooding in years across a wide swath of China, with scores killed, including in outlying mountainous parts of the capital Beijing.