Hong Kong kept its third-highest
storm signal in the wake of Typhoon Usagi, which killed at least
20 people in southern China after making landfall and may lead
the city to delay the opening of its stock market today.
The Hong Kong Observatory repeated the No. 8 Storm Signal
at 7 a.m. local time as winds of at least 63 kilometers (39
miles) an hour swept through the financial center. Hong Kong
Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. said the morning trading session
will be canceled if the signal remains in force at 9 a.m.
Thousands were evacuated from China’s coastal areas as the
storm knocked out power lines, while travelers celebrating the
Chinese Mid-autumn Festival were delayed across the region with
more than 440 flights affected in Hong Kong. At least 20 people
were killed in Guangdong province, where the storm made land
7:40 p.m. yesterday in Shanwei city, the Nanfang Daily reported,
citing local authorities.
“In the past few hours, Usagi weakened significantly and
continued to move away from Hong Kong,” the observatory said.
Should the winds continue to drop, the weather bureau said it
may cut the storm signal to a 3 at or before 10 a.m.
The storm, rated the world’s strongest typhoon this year
while passing Taiwan, was about 210 kilometers northwest of Hong
Kong and moving west-northwest at about 22 kilometers an hour
across China’s Guangdong province, the observatory said.
Delayed Flights
“It’s probably the worst weekend ever,” Jessica Coelho, a
Hong Kong-based human resources executive who was stranded in
Singapore, said by telephone yesterday. “It’s a nightmare
trying to get back. Everyone is trying to get on a plane home.”
According to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing rules,
premarket trading will be canceled today should Signal 8 remain
in force between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., with morning trading to
begin at least two hours after the warning is lowered. There
will be no morning session if the alert is dropped after 9 a.m.
and no trading for the day if it’s still up after noon.
Intercity rail services between Guangzhou, the capital of
Guangdong, Zhuhai and Shenzhen have stopped, according to the
official microblog of operator Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corp.
Some bullet train services were canceled yesterday, with others
also scrapped today, it said.
In Fujian province, Usagi-related storms knocked out three
power lines early yesterday, cutting off electricity to about
170,000 households before it was restored to all but 25,000 by
noon, Xinhua said. The province issued a yellow typhoon warning,
the next to lowest on the country’s four-level scale, at 4 a.m.
today before the China Meteorological Administration downgraded
it at 6 a.m. to blue, the lowest level.
Taiwan Battered
Thousands of people were evacuated from low-lying coastal
areas in the province, Xinhua reported yesterday. The flood-control headquarters ordered reinforced patrols so that
emergency repairs could be carried out to prevent embankment
breaches.
Usagi dumped as much as 70 centimeters (28 inches) of rain
in Taiwan’s east on Sept. 21, left 12 people injured and
disrupted more than 100 flights, the Central Emergency Operation
Center said.
While passing Taiwan, it had sustained wind speeds of 205
kilometers per hour, making it a super typhoon, according to a
tracking map on the Hong Kong Observatory website.
In the Philippines, flooding forced 242 people in the north
of the country to flee their homes for temporary shelters on
Sept. 18, the country’s disaster agency said.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (293) and its Hong Kong Dragon
Airlines Ltd. unit stopped some flights yesterday. Air China
Ltd. (753) canceled 148 flights as of yesterday as airports in Xiamen,
Shantou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macau were
affected.
Temporary Shelters
The government opened temporary shelters, with 274 people
seeking refuge, while it received 69 reports of fallen trees. As
of 3 a.m., 13 people had sought emergency medical treatment at
the city’s hospitals, with six of them discharged, the Hospital
Authority said.
Grocery shelves were almost empty yesterday at a Tuen Mun
ParknShop store in Hong Kong, with only a few packs of instant
noodles left and most vegetables sold out.
“The supermarket is so packed,” Fanny Wong, 54, a
housewife who bought six packs of instant noodles, two cans of
luncheon meat and some eggs, said at the store in the district’s
Pierhead Garden. “People are just stocking up everything, from
instant noodles, bread to ingredients for hotpot such as
mushrooms, pak choi and other vegetables. It took me about half
an hour to check out.”
Super Typhoon
Hong Kong, situated off China’s southern coast, gets on
average about six tropical cyclones annually, according to the
weather bureau. Usagi is the most powerful storm to threaten
Hong Kong since Severe Typhoon Utor in August.
A severe typhoon, one grade lower than a super typhoon, is
equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson
scale, meaning “extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive
damage,” according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center
website.
“I came to Hong Kong for work last week and spent my
weekend here,” Jay Johnson, a U.S.-based businessman, said
yesterday. “It was a lovely stay but now it’s such a headache
getting out. I need to be in Munich for a business meeting on
Monday, but now I may need to cancel it.”
To contact the reporters on this story:
Vinicy Chan in Hong Kong at
vchan91@bloomberg.net;
Jasmine Wang in Hong Kong at
jwang513@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Hwee Ann Tan at
hatan@bloomberg.net
Hong Kong Keeps Storm Signal No. 8 as Typhoon Makes Landfall
Alex Ogle/AFP via Getty Images
Dark clouds are pictured over the skyline of Hong Kong as Typhoon Usagi approaches the territory on September 22, 2013.
Dark clouds are pictured over the skyline of Hong Kong as Typhoon Usagi approaches the territory on September 22, 2013. Photographer: Alex Ogle/AFP via Getty Images
Hong Kong Keeps Storm Signal No. 8 as Typhoon Makes Landfall
Jessica Hromas/Getty Images
A shop front in Wan Chai has its windows tapped up as Typhoon Usagi approaches Hong Kong, on September 22, 2013.
A shop front in Wan Chai has its windows tapped up as Typhoon Usagi approaches Hong Kong, on September 22, 2013. Photographer: Jessica Hromas/Getty Images
Hong Kong Keeps Storm Signal No. 8 as Typhoon Makes Landfall
Laurent Fievet/AFP via Getty Images
An street stands nearly empty in Hong Kong as the city’s observatory raises the typhoon signal warning on September 22, 2013.
An street stands nearly empty in Hong Kong as the city’s observatory raises the typhoon signal warning on September 22, 2013. Photographer: Laurent Fievet/AFP via Getty Images
Hong Kong Maintains Storm Signal as Usagi Reaches China
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