Hong Kong raised its third-highest storm signal as Severe Typhoon Usagi approached, with the city braced for floods and hundreds of flights canceled.
The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted its No. 8 Storm Signal at 6:40 p.m. local time, with Usagi forecast to pass 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the city toward China, the nearest a typhoon of this magnitude has come to the former British colony this year.
Thousands of people were evacuated by the Chinese government from coastal areas in its Fujian province as storms knocked out power lines, while travelers were stranded around the region with more than 430 flights affected at Hong Kong airport. Banks and the Hong Kong stock market will be closed in the morning should Signal 8 remain in force past 9 a.m.
“It’s probably the worst weekend ever,” Jessica Coelho, a Hong Kong-based human resources executive who’s stranded in Singapore, said by phone today. “It’s a nightmare trying to get back. Everyone is trying to get on a plane home.”
The storm, the most powerful to threaten Hong Kong since Severe Typhoon Utor in August, is about 160 kilometers east-northeast of the city and is moving west-northwest at about 20 kilometers an hour, the weather bureau said at 7 p.m. local time. The city has recorded maximum sustained winds of 99 kilometers an hour.
Fujian Province
“Usagi is rather close to the coast of Guangdong, and will make landfall east of Hong Kong tonight,” the city’s observatory said. “Heavy rain brought by Usagi may cause flooding in low-lying areas.”
In Fujian province, Usagi-related storms knocked out three power lines this morning, cutting off electricity to about 170,000 households before it was restored to all but 25,000 by noon, Xinhua News said. The Fujian Provincial Flood Control Headquarters said that storm tides would pose a threat to coastal embankments starting at 2 p.m. as the typhoon coincides with high tide.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying coastal areas in the province, Xinhua reported. The flood control headquarters ordered reinforced patrols so emergency repairs can be carried out to prevent embankment breaches.
Usagi will bring waves as high as nine meters in the north of the South China Sea from Sunday night to Monday morning, the official Xinhua News agency reported.
Taiwan Battered
Usagi dumped as much as 70 centimeters of rain in Taiwan’s east yesterday, left nine people injured and disrupted more than 100 flights, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.
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 operations in the city from 6 p.m. Hong Kong Airlines also suspended all flights out of the city from 6 p.m., it said.
Air China Ltd. (753) canceled 148 flights today as airports in Xiamen, Shantou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macau were affected. It may adjust more flights depending on weather conditions.
Few Shoppers
The impending storm has driven away tourists from Hong Kong’s Central district, with few shoppers seen at retailers including Gucci Group and Longchamp.
“We had planned to take a ferry to Macau this afternoon, but the ferry got canceled because of the typhoon,” said Xiao Tongqin from China’s Tianjin, who was in Central with her husband. “What can you do? We just have bad luck.”
Shun Tak Holdings Ltd. (242) stopped its TurboJet ferry service between Hong Kong and Macau.
Grocery shelves were almost empty today 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.”
Typhoon Season
Usagi is classified as a severe typhoon, one grade lower than a super typhoon. It’s 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.
According to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (388) rules, premarket trading will be canceled tomorrow 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.
Hong Kong, situated off China’s southern coast, gets on average about six tropical cyclones annually, according to the weather bureau. Severe Typhoon Vicente, the most serious storm to hit Hong Kong since 1999, brought schools, banks and flights to a halt last year as it felled trees and damaged a coal conveyor belt.
“I came to Hong Kong for work last week and spent my weekend here,” Jay Johnson, a U.S.-based businessman, said today. “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; Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hwee Ann Tan at hatan@bloomberg.net
