HONG KONG
\nSuper Typhoon Saola threatened southern China on Friday with some of the strongest winds the region has endured, forcing the megacities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen to effectively shut down.
\nTens of millions of people sheltered indoors as hundreds of flights were cancelled, the stock market suspended trading and the start of Hong Kong\u2019s school year was delayed.
\nWith a direct hit on Hong Kong possible, authorities warned they may raise the warning level from T8 to T9 or T10 \u2014 the city\u2019s highest alert, which has only been issued 16 times since World War II.
\nBy 2pm (0600 GMT), Saola was 140 kilometres east-southeast of Hong Kong, packing sustained winds of 210 km per hour.
\nMainland Chinese authorities have already issued the highest typhoon warning for the storm, with the national weather office saying Saola could be among the top five strongest typhoons to hit southern Guangdong province \u2014 home to Shenzhen \u2014 since 1949.
\n\u201cThe city will open all shelters for the public to take refuge,\u201d said the emergency response department of Shenzhen, home to 17.7 million people.
\nAll public transportation in Shenzhen will be halted by the evening, while trains in and out of Guangdong will be suspended from 8pm to 6pm Saturday.
\n\u201cOf course, it\u2019s going to affect our life,\u201d said Wu Wenlai, 43, who runs a restaurant in a Shenzhen suburb. \u201cWe have to close the restaurant and send all the workers home for two days.\u201d
\n\u201cMy eldest son was planning to fly to Chengdu today for university and his flight has been cancelled now,\u201d Wu added.
\nBut he was unfussed by the government warnings: \u201cWe are quite used to it. We usually have several typhoons every year.\u201d
\nAcross the mainland border in Hong Kong, authorities warned Saola could skirt within 50km of the territory, causing a storm surge that could lead to \u201cserious flooding\u201d.
\n\u201cThe maximum sea level may be similar to that when Mangkhut hit Hong Kong in 2018,\u201d the city\u2019s weather observatory said.
\nTyphoon Mangkhut in 2018 \u2014 the last time Hong Kong issued a T10 warning \u2014 left more than 300 people injured in Hong Kong, shredding trees and unleashing floods.
\nIn mainland China, it affected more than three million people in the southern provinces, killing six.
\nSouthern China is frequently hit in summer and autumn by typhoons that form in the warm oceans east of the Philippines and then travel west.
\nClimate change has increased the intensity of tropical storms, with more rain and stronger gusts leading to flash floods and coastal damage, experts say.
\nHong Kong\u2019s streets were deserted on Friday, though last-minute shoppers filled markets trying to stock up for the weekend.
\nA shopper surnamed Lee, accompanied by her young daughter, said the government made the right choice to delay the start of the school year.
\n\u201cIf this reaches (T10), then there might be traffic disruption. Better to wait until that is over before sending kids to school,\u201d Lee said, adding that she bought enough groceries to sustain the family for the weekend.
\nBusinesses around Hong Kong duct-taped glass displays and windows, while sandbags were stacked by the waterfront in Kowloon to prevent flooding.
\nSurfers took advantage of the high winds and caught the huge waves generated by the coming typhoon at a Hong Kong beach.
\nHong Kong\u2019s airport authority said more than 300 flights were cancelled on Friday, though 600 were still scheduled.
\nSaola displaced thousands earlier this week as it passed the northern Philippines, but no direct casualties have been reported so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HONG KONG Super Typhoon Saola threatened southern China on Friday with some of the strongest winds the region has endured, forcing the megacities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen to effectively shut down. Tens of millions of people sheltered indoors as hundreds of flights were cancelled, the stock market suspended trading and the start of Hong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-353184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n