Hong Kong shut down Tuesday ahead of Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, with authorities urging people to stay at home while most passenger flights were due to be suspended until Thursday.
People piled into supermarkets, leaving little on the shelves, as panic buying set in and residents stocked up on necessities for fear that shops could be closed for days.
Given the ominous name “king of storms,” and packing hurricane-force winds of up to 137 mph (220km/h), Ragasa is posing a “severe threat to the coast of Guangdong,” the Hong Kong Observatory said, referring to the Chinese province bordering Hong Kong.
The storm is expected to maintain “super typhoon” intensity as it edges closer to the coast of Guangdong following its landfall over Panuitan Island in the Philippines on Monday, with 177-mph winds that shut down schools and government offices in large parts of the country, including in the capital Manila.
Ragasa is expected to make landfall along Guangdong’s coast from midday to late Wednesday with impacts to Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan.
Guangdong authorities evacuated over 770,000 people, state broadcaster CCTV said, adding that more than one million people are expected to be relocated across the province on Tuesday.
Hong Kong issued the typhoon signal 8, its third highest at 2.20 p.m. (0620 GMT), which urges most businesses and transport services to shut down. More than 700 flights have been disrupted, including in the neighboring gaming hub of Macau and in Taiwan. The weather is expected to deteriorate rapidly later on Tuesday and the observatory said it will assess whether to issue a higher warning late on Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Hurricane-force winds offshore and on high ground were likely in Hong Kong on Wednesday, with heavy rain expected to cause significant storm and sea surge in the densely packed city.
The observatory also warned of rising sea levels, which it said would be similar to those seen during Typhoon Hato in 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, both of which caused billions of dollars in damage.
Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange will remain open. It changed its policy late last year to continue trading no matter the weather.
Source: Reuters
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