Typhoon Saola makes landfall in China, causing light damage

BEIJING — Typhoon Saola made landfall in southern China before dawn Saturday after nearly 900,000 people were moved to safety and most of Hong Kong and parts of the coastal mainland suspended business, transport and classes. Damage appeared to be minimal, however, and some services were returning to normal by afternoon.

Meanwhile, Taiwan issued a warning Saturday for a second typhoon, Haikui, which was expected to pass over the island Sunday, before traveling onward to the central Chinese coast.

Guangdong province’s meteorological bureau said the powerful storm churned into an outlying district of the city of Zhuhai, just south of Hong Kong at 3:30 a.m. It was weakening as it moved in a southwesterly direction along the Guangdong coast at a speed of around 10 miles per hour, prompting Hong Kong to resume flights and subway and rail train services.

On Friday, 780,000 people in Guangdong were moved away from areas at risk as did 100,000 others in neighboring Fujian province. More than 80,000 fishing vessels returned to port.

Workers stayed at home and students in various cities saw the start of their school year postponed to next week. Trading on Hong Kong’s stock market was suspended Friday and hundreds of people were stranded at the airport after about 460 flights were canceled in the key regional business and travel hub.

The Hong Kong Observatory had issued a No. 10 hurricane alert, the highest warning under the city’s weather system. It was the first No. 10 warning since Super Typhoon Mangkhut hit Hong Kong in 2018.

By mid-afternoon, that had been reduced to the considerably less serious Strong Wind Signal No. 3, although the Observatory warned of continuing rough seas and urged people to stay away from the coastline and refrain from watersports.

The observatory said Saola — with maximum sustained winds of 121 miles per hour — came its closest to the financial hub at around 11 p.m. Friday.

Billy H.C. Kwok The Associated Press A rescue team patrols during Typhoon Saola in Lei Yue Mun district in Hong Kong on Saturday. Nearly 900,000 people were moved to safety.