Nida wreaks havoc in Hong kong
City faces temporary lockdown before typhoon moves on to Shenzhen
Hong Kong: Typhoon Nida brought violent winds and torrential rain to Hong Kong, with hundreds of flights cancelled and the stock market, schools and businesses closed.
While the storm moved on to southern China and Hong Kong emerged from lockdown yesterday, stranded passengers crowded Chek Lap Kok Airport, desperately seeking flights.
Wind gusts of 151kph had earlier whipped the city and rain lashed down overnight, leaving three people injured and a trail of fallen trees and torn-down scaffolding.
An airport authority spokesman said only 500 flights ran between 6am and midnight local time yesterday.
On a normal day, the airport would handle 1,100 flights.
More than 150 flights were cancelled on Monday as Nida approached, leaving stranded passengers to sleep on the floor in the departure hall.
Security guards prevented passengers without flights from reaching check-in desks yesterday, redirecting them to another part of the airport to seek help from staff.
Some complained that airline staff had not given them food vouchers or emergency accommodation despite lengthy waits.
The stock market shut for the morning and more than 200 people sought refuge in government shelters as the rain poured down.
But dedicated fans of new augmented reality game Pokemon GO, which has many glued to their smartphones even more than usual, wrapped up in waterproofs to keep hunting monsters.
Nida made landfall early yesterday in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, with winds still blowing at up to 151kph.
It was the strongest typhoon to hit the Pearl River delta in 30 years, the China News Service cited experts as saying.
Shenzhen issued a red alert over rain – the highest in a fourtiered warning system – after the downpours totalled more than 80mm, China’s meteorological bureau said.
The city’s port and the Shenzhen Bay Bridge connecting the mainland to Hong Kong were temporarily closed, CCTV said, with around 140 flights cancelled at its airport.
In neighbouring Zhuhai, rainstorm warnings were upgraded to orange, the second-highest alert level, yesterday.
Work was cancelled, scenic spots closed and city bus services stopped, the Guangzhou Daily said.
A few people were still taking selfies on the oceanside boardwalk, prompting the provincial meteorological bureau to post on social media: “Warning once again that the wind is strong and the waves high by the seaside – don’t go out to the beach to play!”
Nida brought strong winds and torrential rains to the northern Philippines over the weekend, while southern China has already been hard-hit by storms this summer.
Super Typhoon Nepartak left at least 69 dead in July in the mainland’s eastern province of Fujian – despite being downgraded to a tropical storm. — AFP