Hong Kong
CNN
—
Schools and businesses closed in Hong Kong and other parts of southern China as Typhoon Saola hit close to the coast on Friday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain in what could be the region’s strongest storm in five years, forcing schools and businesses to close and killing thousands. Hundreds of flights were cancelled.
Although it was a super typhoon on Thursday, it was downgraded to typhoon status on Friday, but remains a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds reaching 220 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour).
The storm previously affected parts of the northeastern Philippines.
According to the Hong Kong Municipal Information Services Department, three people in Hong Kong were injured and taken to hospital. The Ministry of Interior opened dozens of temporary evacuation centers. Seven cases of flooding have occurred, but there have been no reports of landslides so far.
Residents in the city began preparing Thursday for the approaching typhoon, with many flocking to supermarkets and shops to stock up on food and essentials.
Strong winds began to pick up on Friday afternoon, and the storm is expected to be closest to the city and southern China’s Guangdong province overnight into Saturday morning.
However, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said the center of the storm is likely to remain offshore rather than moving over land, weakening as it approaches and becoming comparable to a Category 2 hurricane.
The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has issued a T10 storm warning signal. The storm warning level will reach its highest level on Friday. Schools and most businesses were supposed to be closed. first day of the school year For most institutions.
HKO said Saola’s eyewall – the strongest ring of winds surrounding a hurricane’s quiet eye – is currently moving across the city, with “strong winds of the hurricane impacting eastern Hong Kong”. added.
“Saola will make a detour approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the Hong Kong Observatory in the next few hours,” HKO added.
The observatory warned that the storm could continue to bring heavy rain and strong winds, causing high water levels and storm surges in low-lying coastal areas. A T10 warning was last issued in 2018 for Typhoon Mangkhut, which killed 10 people in neighboring Macau and caused significant damage to Hong Kong.
The storm also caused widespread disruption to air travel. By Friday morning, 366 flights had been canceled in Hong Kong and another 40 had been delayed, according to the Hong Kong Airport Authority. Ahead of the typhoon, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific suspended all flights to and from Hong Kong from Friday afternoon until Saturday morning.
![Customers walk past nearly empty shelves at a supermarket as Typhoon Saola approaches Hong Kong on August 31.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230831163210-02-hong-kong-preps-saola.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
Authorities in mainland China also issued a red typhoon warning, the highest level of a four-tier warning system, as Saola approached Guangdong province.
Shenzhen, a high-tech hub bordering Hong Kong, will suspend all classes, work, business, markets and transportation on Friday. The international airport suspended all flights from noon Friday.
The city urged its 13 million residents to stay at home and opened emergency shelters for those who needed to evacuate.
About 4,000 trains in Guangdong province were suspended between Thursday and Sunday, state news agency Xinhua said.
![Hong Kong residents are stocking up as Typhoon Saola approaches on August 31st.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230831163248-03-hong-kong-preps-saola.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_720,w_1280,c_fill)
Hong Kong is used to tropical cyclones and typhoons that come several times a year. Three T8 alerts were issued in 2022, making it the third highest alert in the city. According to HKO, the most recent order was issued in July due to Typhoon Tarim.
But the city has generally had a good track record in recent decades of surviving even direct hits with low casualties.