Hong Kong warns of flight disruptions as super typhoon approaches

Hong Kong has raised its storm warning to its third-highest level as Super Typhoon Yagi skirts the city, with flights expected to be grounded throughout Friday as the storm heads toward southern China.

The Hong Kong observatory issued a so-called Typhoon Signal 8, a warning of gale force or gale-force winds near sea level, at 6:20 p.m. local time. The alert is expected to remain in place until at least noon Friday. The airport train and the city’s underground rail services will run normally on a limited schedule when the alert is lifted, depending on the severity of the storm.

Under current stock exchange rules, the city’s $5 trillion capital market will now cancel its morning trading session. The afternoon session could still start if the alert is lowered at noon.

Yagi was centered about 330 kilometers south of Hong Kong at around 11 p.m. It will remain at super typhoon intensity and pass about 300 kilometers southwest of the city on Friday morning, HKO said.

Yagi has maximum sustained winds of 120 knots (222 kilometers) per hour, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The system is equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, which is considered a major storm that has the ability to cause catastrophic damage. Yagi’s peak winds weakened somewhat Thursday evening, but the typhoon warning center expects the storm could intensify again overnight.

Hong Kong’s education bureau announced the suspension of classes in schools on Friday to ensure student safety, and airport authorities warned of flight disruptions throughout the day as they activated rescheduling systems.

Yagi could be the last typhoon to force the closure of Hong Kong’s stock market – the financial center will end its decades-old practice of closing markets during typhoons starting September 23.

The storm killed at least 15 people in the Philippines and forced thousands to flee before moving into the South China Sea. The Chinese city of Haikou on Hainan Island will close schools, factories and supermarkets on Thursday in preparation for Yagi, China Central Television reported.

Yagi, known as Makar in China, could become the strongest typhoon to hit the island in a decade, according to the Hainan Meteorological Administration. Hainan issued the highest level of emergency response, Xinhua reported, citing the provincial disaster management authority. China Southern Power Grid Co., one of the country’s top power grid firms, also raised its emergency response level on Thursday and implemented various defensive measures against the typhoon and heavy rain.

Rain from the typhoon could threaten rice crops in Guangdong province and sugar cane in neighboring Guangxi. Extreme weather from heat waves to floods has already affected agriculture across China this summer.

Once Yagi passes southern China, it is forecast to move toward northern Vietnam, albeit at a weaker intensity, according to the typhoon warning center.

Top photo: Staff members reinforce doors and windows for Typhoon Yagi at Xinhai Port in Haikou, Hainan Province on September 4. Photographer: Luo Yunfei/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images.

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