Typhoon Nida batters southern China after shutting down Hong Kong

[IceWizard]

2 August 2016 China


Large areas of southern China are on emergency alert as a powerful typhoon batters the region.


Typhoon Nida hit Hong Kong on Tuesday with high winds and torrential rain, forcing schools, businesses and transport services to shut. But the storm was reported to be weakening as it moved to the mainland.

Guangzhou in Guangdong province issued a red alert, its highest weather warning, and people have been advised to stockpile food and essentials.

The southern cities of Zhuhai and Shanwei are also on red alert, with transport, industry and public services largely grinding to a halt. Nida, which earlier passed over the Philippines, is set to be the strongest typhoon in the region since 1983, one official told Chinese state media, warning it could bring severe flooding. In Hong Kong, thousands of workers were evacuated from an offshore oil platform and from a series of tunnels and bridges being built to link the territory with two other cities.

Hundreds of people took refuge in government shelters in the city, amid torrential rain and gusts of over 150km/h (93mph). Although Hong Kong officials ended their rainstorm alert at midday on Tuesday, they warned residents there was still a risk of flooding in low-lying areas.

Southern China is hit by heavy rains every monsoon season, but this year has been particularly bad.

In July, Typhoon Nepartak killed dozens of people in Fujian province and forced hundreds of thousands of Chinese people from their homes. It also caused deaths and damage in Taiwan.

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[IceWizard]

Updated about 8 hours ago

Severe tropical storm Nida: Hong Kong, China flights cancelled, schools, offices closed as storm hits

Nida has been downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it heads towards the Chinese city of Guangzhou having passed Hong Kong and Shenzhen, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled, closing schools and halting ferries.

Guangzhou, the capital of Hong Kong's neighbouring Guangdong province, issued its first-known red storm alert, with schools and outdoor work suspended. Severe tropical storm Nida, with sustained winds of 105kph, is due to hit the major city later on Tuesday.

"All emergency rescue and disaster response units, please adopt measures to ensure preparation work for the provision of water, electricity, gas, transport, communications, civil administration, medical treatment, epidemic prevention and food supply and other disaster relief efforts," the city Government said in a statement on its official microblog.

Hong Kong raised a Typhoon 8 storm signal — the third-highest — on Monday evening as the storm edged closer to the semi-autonomous Chinese city, packing winds of 130 kilometres per hour.

Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary Dragonair cancelled all of their flights in and out of Hong Kong for 16 hours, from 10:00pm Monday until 2:00pm Tuesday (local time). That will include more than 100 flights, said a spokeswoman for Cathay, the city's flag carrier.

The Airport Authority said more than 150 flights were cancelled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport with over 500 flights expected to be rescheduled.

Hong Kong authorities shut kindergartens and special needs learning institutions on Monday.

Ferries between Hong Kong and the gambling strip of Cotai in Macau have been suspended. Hong Kong's observatory said winds would "moderate gradually" throughout the day, but downgraded the earlier Typhoon 8 signal shortly after midday (local time).

Residents warned to prepare three days' of food.

Chinese living in the storm's projected path were told to prepare three days' worth of food and other essentials, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the National Commission for Disaster reduction.

The cities of Zhuhai and Shanwei in Guangdong province also issued red alerts, while nearby Shenzhen issued a yellow one — the third most severe.

All work, production, and classes in Guangzhou are suspended during the alert.

"It's the strongest typhoon to hit the Pearl River Delta since 1983 and will bring severe flooding," Xinhua cited local official He Guoqing as saying. More than 220 flights out of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai airports would be cancelled before the storm passed over, the Sohu news portal said.

Nearly 2,000 workers constructing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge were evacuated on Monday morning, and more than 2,000 others working on an offshore oil platform were relocated on Sunday evening, Xinhua said.

Nida brought strong winds and torrential rains to the northern Philippines over the weekend. Southern China has been hard-hit by storms this summer.

Super Typhoon Nepartak brought chaos to Taiwan in July and left at least 69 dead once it made landfall in the mainland's eastern province of Fujian, despite having been downgraded to a tropical storm.