The agency warned that the weather will deteriorate rapidly with the possibility of severe flooding in coastal areas.
Hong Kong dawned today paralyzed, with schools, transport and stores closed, awaiting the arrival of super typhoon Saola, which is approaching the southern coast of China, where it could make landfall in the coming hours.
The Hong Kong Meteorological Observatory on Friday raised the storm warning to level 8 on a scale of ten, which could be raised to the highest level if wind speeds reach hurricane levels in coastal and elevated areas in the next two days.
At 8:00 local time the storm was 230 km to the east and southeast of the financial center, which was approaching with winds of up to 205 kilometers per hour.
The agency warned that the weather “will deteriorate rapidly” throughout the day, with the possibility of severe flooding in low-lying coastal areas starting in the afternoon, so it asked residents to stay away from the coast.
With this forecast, the city is preparing since Thursday to receive torrential rains and strong winds: about 150 people were evacuated to temporary shelters on Friday, while in low-lying areas, businesses and residents placed sandbags on the doors of their homes and protected their windows to prevent damage.
Hong Kong paralyzes and raises alert before arrival of super typhoon
If the exceptional 10th cyclonic storm signal is issued, it would be the first time since 2018 that the observatory has raised the highest intensity warning and the 16th since records were implemented in 1946.
The transport network is one of the main affected by the arrival of Saola, which has caused the cancellation of 366 flights and delayed 40 others, according to the Airport Authority, with Cathay Pacific Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, HK Express and Greater Bay Airlines among the most affected.
On the ground, Airport Express train service was operating normally as of midday Friday but some bus services and routes have been curtailed.
Before turning toward mainland China, Saola crossed southern Taiwan, and the storm’s outer bands lashed the island’s southern cities with torrential rains.
It had earlier hit the Philippines, where it left at least one person dead and tens of thousands displaced by flooding.
Hong Kong is hit by about six typhoons each year, usually in the June to October season, although only a fraction of them result in business or school closures.
The last super typhoon to hit the city was Mangkhut, which in 2018 left direct economic losses estimated at around 4.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$586 million, €541 million).