Hong Kong shuts down as deadly typhoon sweeps past
Print Edition
HONG Kong streets were deserted yesterday with the city battered by Typhoon Haima after it left a trail of death and damage in the Philippines.
More than 700 flights in and out of Hong Kong were canceled or delayed and schools and offices shut as the storm passed east of the city to hit Guangdong Province on China’s mainland.
Trading on the city’s stock exchange was also canceled.
As Haima swept past Hong Kong, trees were felled by winds, and waves crashed over coastal roads. Eight people were taken to hospital with injuries, authorities said. Four are in a serious condition.
Hong Kong’s No. 8 storm signal — the third-highest warning level — which had been raised yesterday morning, was downgraded to a No. 3 signal by early evening.
The public were warned to stay away from the shoreline due to rough seas, but many residents ignored the plea.
In the western neighborhood of Kennedy Town, people laughed and joked as they were soaked by the waves.
“I’m from Nepal and I used to live by a lake. I like playing with the water. I’m not afraid of the water,” said one resident.
Others jogged and fished as the storm rolled in.
At the popular southern beach spot of Big Wave Bay, a handful of surfers attempted to catch thunderous waves.
Rain poured down into the late afternoon with wind gusts up to 101 kilometers per hour.
Ferry services including the city’s famous cross-harbor Star Ferry were canceled and Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific spoke of “significant disruption” to flights.
Underground metro train services were reduced and all buses canceled.
The storm comes after a week of downpours in Hong Kong that brought severe flooding to some parts of the city.
Traffic was caught in torrents of water flowing down main roads on Wednesday as the observatory issued its severest “black rainstorm” warning.
One elderly man became a local hero after online images of him calmly reading a newspaper in a flooded branch of Starbucks went viral, earning him the nickname “Starbucks uncle.”
Rainstorms are forecast to batter the cities of Shenzhen, Huizhou, Shanwei, Meizhou, Heyuan, Shantou, Jieyang and Chaozhou in Guangdong Province this morning, forecasters said.
Shenzhen closed offices, businesses and schools yesterday as the city activated its highest-level emergency measures.
Nearly 80,000 people were evacuated, officials said.
Schools in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and Huizhou were closed yesterday.
By late yesterday morning, China Southern Airlines had canceled 85 flights, including 50 in Shenzhen, 10 in Hong Kong, 15 in Jieyang and 10 in Zhuhai, due to Haima.
More than 30 flights between the northeast city of Shenyang and cities such as Shenzhen and Zhuhai in Guangdong were canceled.
Some 104 high-speed trains that pass through Changsha, capital of the central province of Hunan, were suspended.
Guangdong flood control headquarters warned of a high risk of geological disasters possibly triggered by heavy rainfall.
In the Philippines, where Haima struck on Wednesday, tens of thousands of homes were destroyed and at least eight people were reported dead.
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