Saola, which is approaching the Chinese coast, could be the most powerful typhoon to hit the Hong Kong region in more than 70 years, Chinese meteorological services announced on Friday.
“Saola could become the strongest typhoon since 1949 to hit the Pearl River Delta,” which includes several major cities such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macao, the National Meteorological Center said on the Weibo social network.
With a possible direct hit on Hong Kong, authorities warned they could raise the alert level, particularly to the top of the scale (T10), which has only been issued 16 times since World War II.
At 3:00 p.m. local time (08:00 a.m. Lisbon time), Typhoon Saola was 140 kilometers east-southeast of Hong Kong, packing sustained winds of 210 kilometers per hour.
The super typhoon could skirt territory less than 50 kilometers to the south and cause a storm around Victoria Harbour, according to the city’s weather observatory.
“There could be severe flooding,” the meteorological observatory said, adding that eastern coastal areas could experience water levels similar to those caused by Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018.
The streets of Hong Kong were deserted today, except for a few locals looking for last-minute shopping on the weekend.
The windows of shops and businesses and homes were protected due to the typhoon and offices near Victoria Harbor were closed and barricaded to prevent the ingress of water.
The Hong Kong Airport Authority today announced the cancellation of more than 300 flights.
The Stock Market announced today the cancellation of the morning sessions for all markets.
In mainland China, the Guangdong province has declared a level I emergency in relation to winds, the maximum level. In Shenzhen, the authorities ordered the closure of offices, companies and markets from 16:00 local time (09:00 in Lisbon). Despite this, at the end of the afternoon the markets of this city of 17.7 million inhabitants were still very crowded.
All public transportation in Shenzhen will be shut down for the night, while trains to and from Guangdong will be suspended from 8:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 p.m. local time Saturday.
The authorities of Macao, a neighboring territory of Hong Kong, are considering the possibility of issuing a T8 level alert on Saturday.
While they can temporarily disrupt cities like Hong Kong and Macau, typhoons cause far fewer deaths and damage, thanks to stricter building regulations and better flood management systems.
Experts say climate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, with more rain and stronger gusts causing flash flooding and coastal damage.
Source: TSF
