The Borneo Post

Typhoon Hato batters Hong Kong, south China

-

HONG KONG: Typhoon Hato, a maximum category 10 storm, slammed into Hong Kong yesterday lashing the Asian financial hub with wind and rain that uprooted trees and forced most businesses to close, while in some places big waves flooded seaside streets.

There were reports of 34 people injured in Hong Kong while in the city of Macau, across the Pearl River estuary, three people were killed, authoritie­s there said.

In Hong Kong, more than 450 fl ights were cancelled, fi nancial markets suspended and schools closed as Hato bore down, the fi rst category 10 storm to hit the city since 2012.

“I’ve never seen one like this,” Garrett Quigley, a longtime resident of Lantau island to the west of the city, said of the storm.

“Cars are half submerged and roads are impassable with flooding and huge trees down. It’s crazy.”

Many skyscraper­s in the heart of Hong Kong were empty and dark as office workers stayed at home.

Hato churned up Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour and triggered large swells and big waves on some of the city’s most popular beaches, with serious flooding in low-lying areas.

In residentia­l districts like Heng Fa Chuen on densely populated Hong Kong island, waves smashed against the sides of oceanfront buildings and surged over a promenade, swamping roads and

I’ve never seen one like this. Cars are half submerged and roads are impassable with flooding and huge trees down. It’s crazy.

vehicles parked nearby.

Constructi­on cranes swayed at the tops of skyscraper­s, windows imploded and nearly 200 trees were uprooted, while some people used canoes to venture out into flooded streets. Authoritie­s downgraded the storm to a category eight by mid-afternoon.

The storm also caused a power blackout across most of the gambling hub of Macau for about two hours, residents said, with disruption to mobile phone and internet networks.

The former Portuguese colony’s casinos, however, had backup power, two casino executives told Reuters. The storm also made landfall in China’s Guangdong province, in Zhuhai city adjacent to Macau, China’s Xinhua state news agency.

Numerous flightsand­trains were cancelled in Guangdong province, with Shenzhen’s Internatio­nal Airport particular­ly badly hit.

Thousands of residents along the Chinese coast were evacuated and fishing vessels were called back to port.

Garrett Quigley, resident of Lantau island

Maximum winds near Hato’s centre were recorded at a destructiv­e 155 kph.

A senior scientific officer for the Hong Kong observator­y warned that sea levels could rise several metres in some places, with the government issuing flood alerts and opening 27 shelters across the city.

Trading in Hong Kong’s financial markets was halted for the day, the stock exchange said. Typhoon Nida in August last year was the last storm to close the exchange for the whole day.

The city’s flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific, and Hong Kong Airlines said the majority of their flights to and from Hong Kong between 2200 GMT Tuesday and 0900 GMT yesterday would be cancelled.

Other transport services, including ferries to the gaming hub of Macau and outlying islands in Hong Kong, were suspended. — Reuters

 ??  ?? People walking through a flooded street in the Heng Fa Chuen area as Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong. — AFP photo
People walking through a flooded street in the Heng Fa Chuen area as Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong. — AFP photo
 ??  ?? Still image taken from Reuters TV footage shows debris as waves crash on Shek O Beach, during Typhoon Hato in Hong Kong. — Reuters photo
Still image taken from Reuters TV footage shows debris as waves crash on Shek O Beach, during Typhoon Hato in Hong Kong. — Reuters photo
 ??  ?? A man holds onto a lamp post against strong wind as Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong, China. — Reuters photo
A man holds onto a lamp post against strong wind as Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong, China. — Reuters photo

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malaysia