Super Typhoon Saola, approaching the Chinese coast on Friday, could be the “strongest” in more than 70 years, making landfall in the Hong Kong region, where alert levels are currently at their highest and already threatening tens of millions of mega-city residents in lockdown.
• Also read: Super Typhoon Saola is on its way to southern China and Hong Kong
• Also read: Philippines: Hundreds flee floods as typhoon strikes
Hundreds of flights have been canceled and the start of the school year in Hong Kong has been postponed while the wet streets of this financial hub have been deserted.
“Saola could become the strongest typhoon since 1949 to hit the Pearl River Delta,” which includes several major cities including Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macau, the National Meteorological Center said on social network Weibo.
AFP
With a possible direct impact on Hong Kong, authorities there on Friday night raised the alert level from T8 to T9 and then to T10, the highest level only 16 times issued since World War II. They expect a significant increase in wind force, which is expected to reach “118 km/h or more”, with gusts that could exceed 220 km/h.
“Don’t go outside and stay away from windows and outside doors. Make sure you have shelter,” the Hong Kong Meteorological Observatory warned.
Saola is expected to touch this city around midnight (16:00 GMT).
Danger of “serious flooding”
The streets of Hong Kong were deserted on Friday apart from a few people looking for last-minute shopping, such as Ms Lee, who was accompanied by her young daughter. In her opinion, the government made the right decision by delaying the start of the school year.
AFP
“It’s better to wait until this is over before sending the children to school,” she said.
Storefronts and storefronts of shops and residences were protected with tape, while office buildings near Victoria Harbor barricaded entrances to prevent water ingress.
The Hong Kong Airport Authority announced the cancellation of more than 300 flights on Friday.
The exchange announced the cancellation of “morning trading sessions for all markets.”
AFP
“Last Minute Supplies”
In mainland China, Guangdong Province has declared a Level I wind emergency, the maximum level.
Shenzhen, one of the country’s major economic hubs, ordered offices, shops and markets closed and opened shelters for the population.
All public transport in the city of 17.7 million was suspended in the evening, while trains to and from Guangzhou are suspended until 6 p.m. local time on Saturday.
“My eldest son was supposed to go to university in Chengdu (central) today, but his flight was canceled,” said Wu Wenlai, 43, a restaurateur in a Shenzhen suburb. But despite the authorities’ warning, he isn’t worried. “We are used to it. We usually have several typhoons a year.
AFP
Dozens of delivery drivers braved strong winds and rain to reach residents sheltering in their homes.
“I will work until I feel it is too dangerous,” one of them, Chai Jijie, 22, told AFP. “People don’t want to go out, they want to stock up. There are many delivery requests.
Authorities in Macau, a neighboring area of Hong Kong, are considering the possibility of issuing a level T8 warning on Saturday.
More intense
The surfers used winds as high as 40 mph to battle the massive waves created by the typhoon’s approach to Hong Kong.
AFP
“Severe flooding could occur” in the eastern coastal areas, emphasizes the Meteorological Observatory, which is considering possible water levels similar to those of Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018. More than 300 people were injured in Hong Kong.
On the Chinese mainland, more than three million people in the southern provinces were affected and six people died.
In a low-lying fishing village in flood-prone Lei Yue Mun district, water has already risen and entered shops where sandbags barricade closed doors.
“We elevated (the equipment) so the water wouldn’t harm them,” a restaurateur named Lee told a local television station, hoping to save his business.
Southern China is frequently hit by typhoons, which form in the warm oceans east of the Philippines in summer and fall and then move west.
Although they can temporarily disrupt operations in cities like Hong Kong and Macau, typhoons cause far fewer deaths and damage thanks to stricter building standards and better flood management systems.
Climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, experts say, as more rainfall and stronger gusts lead to flash floods and coastal damage.