Schools and factories close
Haima churned toward southern China yesterday after smashing into the northern Philippines with ferocious wind and rain.
HAIMA churned toward southern China yesterday after smashing into the northern Philippines with ferocious wind and rain, triggering flooding, landslides and power outages and killing seven people.
China suspended rail services in several provinces on the mainland’s south, where the typhoon is expected to make landfall in the afternoon.
In the city of Shenzhen, authorities ordered schools, markets and factories to close, halted public transportation and evacuated some areas.
Hong Kong hunkered down as Haima lashed the financial hub with rain and wind gusts of up to 96 km/h.
Schools and offices were shut and trading on the stock market suspended after the third most serious storm signal was hoisted, leaving an eerie calm in the streets of the normally bustling city.
Nearly 700 flights to and from the city’s international airport were cancelled or delayed.
In the Philippines, Haima’s blinding winds and rain had rekindled fears of the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which left 7300 dead, but there were no immediate reports of any major damage.
Large casualties appeared to have been averted after nearly 100,000 people fled to safer ground.
Several villages were cut off by fallen trees, landslides and floods, impeding communications and aid.
Although storms are a part of life in the country’s north, many villagers were still horrified by Haima’s fury.
At least seven people were killed in the storm, officials said. But the evacuations from high-risk communities helped prevent a larger number of casualties.