Hundreds Of Flights Cancelled, Stores Run Out Of Produce As Typhoon Saola Gets Closer To Mainland China

Three tropical cyclones have formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean and South China Sea. Saola and Haikui have been labelled as typhoons while Kirogi is still classified as a tropical storm.

As the Super Typhoon Saola moved closer to mainland China, hundreds of flights were cancelled in most parts of Hong Kong and other parts of southern China. Authorities have raised a strong storm advisory and closed businesses, schools and financial markets. According to Reuters, three tropical cyclones have formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean and South China Sea. Saola and Haikui have been labelled as typhoons while Kirogi which is further away from the land has been classified as a tropical storm.

The wind speed of the Saola typhoon is more than 200 kilometres per hour and is moving towards eastern Guangdong, the province which is adjacent to Hong Kong. Chinese authorities on Thursday issued their highest typhoon warning. It is expected that Saola can make landfall on Friday night or Saturday morning as a severe typhoon along the coast from Huidong to Taishan in Guangdong.  People in areas of southern China were warned to stay away from the coastline. Hong Kong and Macau lie in the centre of that coastline.

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. However, the observatory said it could issue higher cyclone warning signals later on Friday. Weather conditions could deteriorate rapidly as the typhoon makes landfall, the Hong Kong observatory said.

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.Hong Kong has five rankings for typhoons, 1, 3, 8, 9 and the highest 10, and currently has Signal 8 in force, reported Reuters. The observatory also said that it expects heavy rain and violence winds while the water level is likely to rise by Saturday, it also has a potential for flooding.

Precautions before the typhoon

All schools in Hong Kong remain closed despite it being the beginning of the school year. Cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou have also closed schools. Tech hub Shenzhen went a step further, suspending work, businesses and financial markets from Friday afternoon.

People in Hong Kong crowded supermarkets and fresh produce markets to stock up on supplies before the storm hit, especially in the downtown Wan Chai district. Several shops quickly ran out of fresh vegetables.

Cathay Pacific, the city’s flagship carrier, reportedly cancelled all flights in and out of Hong Kong between 2 PM on Friday and 10 AM on Saturday. Further cancellations or delays maybe required based on the typhoon path on Saturday morning, it said. Zhuhai and Shenzhen airports cancelled hundreds of flights by 10:55 AM.

Guangdong authorities suspended all trains in and out of the province from 8 PM Friday to 6 AM Saturday. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge that connects the three cities will remain closed from 3:30 PM on Friday to ensure safety.

Similarly, Macau's Weather Observatory said that the wind warning level will be Signal Eight between 1 PM to 3 PM on Friday and it is expected to rise to 10 on Saturday morning. 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.

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.