No fatalities as Utor swings by Hong Kong
Hundreds of flights canceled, delayed or diverted, mainland tourists stranded overnight at ferry terminals
Hong Kong swung back to normal on Wednesday soon after a 12- hour shutdown brought by Severe Typhoon Utor, with no reports of fatalities, but travelers are set to experience the far- reaching impact of flight delays.
Utor, the 11th and most powerful typhoon to hit the Chinese mainland this year, made landfall at Yangjiang in Guangdong province at 4 pm on Wednesday. Downgraded to a “typhoon” by the Hong Kong Observatory, Utor continues to lose strength as it moves inland.
Storm signal No 8 was raised in Hong Kong for 12 hours, but the city barely felt the might of Utor as it was still 230 kilometers away at its closest.
Forty-eight fallen trees and six minor floods were reported. Nine people were treated for storm-related injuries, while 54 took refuge at 20 shelters across the city. There were also reports of crippled scaffolding and displaced satellite dishes.
A cargo vessel also lost its battle with the high waves off the Wanshan Archipelago at around 10 am on Wednesday.
Nineteen of the 21 crew members of the sunken ship were lifted to safety by the Government Flying Service, while the remaining two were taken to Zhuhai by mainland rescuers. No crew members required hospitalization, but a first responder from Hong Kong was treated for injuries caused by loose equipment.
On a more positive note, workers of all trades earned at least a half-day off on Wednesday morning before they flocked back to work after the storm signal was lowered to No 3 at 1:40 pm.
Buses that resumed service around 1 pm were quickly filled with commuters, while the MTR boosted frequencies across its rail network for the unusually late rush hour.
But residents of outlying islands were surprised to discover most ferry services would not resume until an hour after the lowering of the signal. New World First Ferry blamed rough sea conditions for the delay.
Travel plans were disrupted. At least 119 flights were canceled on Thursday, and 529 flights delayed, including numerous long-haul flights that were rescheduled to Thursday.
Strong crosswinds at the airport, which continued after the lowering of the storm signal, forced incoming flights to abort landing and divert elsewhere. Other flights were delayed for hours or canceled to avoid the tough weather, resulting in misplaced planes and crew.
Cathay Pacific urged passengers to defer non-essential travel on or before Thursday. Fees will be waived if they revise their travel date to no later than September 12. Similar arrangements were offered to Hong Kong Airlines’ passengers set to fly before Friday.
Hundreds of mainland tourists spent the night at the waiting lounges of the two ferry terminals in Tsim Sha Tsui and Sheung Wan as intercity high-speed ferries to Macao and Zhongshan were slow to resume service after 3 pm on Wednesday. Full services will resume today (Thursday).
Schools, court proceedings, banks and all trading at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing were closed for the rest of the day. Some listed companies also canceled their post- earnings press conferences due to the storm.
The midday withdrawal of the No 8 signal upset some workers, but Lee Shuk-ming, senior scientific officer of the Observatory, said the signals were issued and lowered based upon the strength of sustained wind.
Macao also lowered its storm signal at 3:30 pm on Wednesday. The gambling center raised the No 8 signal at 5 am on the day.
But unlike Hong Kong, where rail still runs in harsh weather, tourists in Macao had only overcharging taxis to catch. The scramble led to brief chaos at the taxi stand outside the border control point connecting to Zhuhai, but there was no major incident.