Typhoon kills 29 in the Philippines
Hong Kong affected; China next
HONG KONG/MANILA: A super typhoon swirled past Hong Kong yesterday, barrelling towards the Chinese coast and gaining strength over the South China Sea after it wreaked havoc in the Philippines and killed at least 29 people.
Packing galeforce winds of more than 200kmh, Typhoon Mangkhut is considered the strongest to hit the region this year, equivalent to a maximum Category 5 ‘‘intense hurricane’’ in the Atlantic.
Mangkhut, the Thai name for Southeast Asia’s mangosteen fruit, was expected to skirt 100km south of Hong Kong and veer west towards the coast of China’s southern Guangdong province, and the gaming centre of Macau.
Hong Kong raised its highest No 10 typhoon signal at midmorning as ferocious winds uprooted trees and smashed windows in office and residential buildings, some of which swayed in the gusts, residents said.
‘‘It swayed for quite a long time, at least two hours. It made me feel so dizzy,’’ said Elaine Wong, who lives in a highrise tower in Kowloon.
Water levels surged 3.5m in some places, waves swamped roads and washed up live fish, washing into some residential blocks and a mall in an eastern district.
‘‘It’s the worst I’ve seen,’’ resident Martin Wong said. ‘‘I’ve not seen the roads flood like this, [and] the windows shake like this, before.’’
The plans of tens of thousands of travellers were disrupted by flight cancellations at Hong Kong’s international airport, a major regional hub.
Philippine authorities said a baby and a toddler were among the 29 dead, most of them in landslips in mountainous areas that left at least 13 missing.
‘‘The landslides happened as some residents returned to their homes after the typhoon,’’ disaster response coordinator Francis Tolentino told DZMM Radio, adding that most of the 5.7 million people affected had made advance preparations.
‘‘It was not so severe as we expected it to be because earlier it was noted it would also be strong,’’ President Rodrigo Duterte said, following an aerial survey of some affected areas.
In Macau, which halted casino gambling late on Saturday and put China’s People’s Liberation Army on standby for disaster relief help, some streets were flooded.
‘‘The suspension is for the safety of casino employees, visitors to the city, and residents,’’ authorities said.
China has ordered thousands of boats to return to harbour, and evacuated thousands of offshore oil platform workers, the state news agency, Xinhua, said.
The typhoon, dubbed the ‘‘King of Storms’’ by Chinese media, is expected to make landfall in Guangdong between the cities of Taishan and Yangjiang, weather officials say.
Ports, oil refineries and industrial plants in the area have been shut. Power to some areas could also be reduced as a precaution, grid operators say.
The airport in the boomtown of Shenzhen has been closed, and flights cancelled in Guangzhou and the neighbouring island province of Hainan.
High winds and swells have also hit Fujian province north of Guangdong, shutting ports, suspending ferry services and cancelling more than 100 flights. Mangkhut’s northwesterly track will bring heavy rain and winds to the autonomous region of Guangxi today, before it weakens into a tropical depression to reach southwestern Yunnan tomorrow.