Most of Hong Kong and other parts of southern China ground to a near standstill Friday with classes and flights cancelled as powerful Typhoon Saola passed along the coast.
Many 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 and hundreds of people were stranded at the airport after about 460 flights were cancelled in the key regional business and travel hub.
Rail authorities in mainland China halted all trains entering or leaving Guangdong province from Friday night to Saturday evening, state television CCTV reported.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued a No. 10 hurricane signal, 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.
The observatory said Saola — with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres per hour — came its closest to the financial hub at around 11pm (1am Saturday AEST), skirting about 30 kilometers south of the city’s Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.
The storm’s eyewall, which surrounds its eye, was moving across the city at night, “posing a high threat” to the territory, it said.
