As Typhoon Saola barrels toward China, expected to make landfall late Friday, authorities there say more than 460,000 people have been evacuated in southern Guangdong province, and schools, businesses and financial markets have been closed in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Forecasters say that although Saola lost “super” typhoon status as its top winds dropped from 240 kilometers per hour to 220 kph, it remains the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. Power outages, wind damage and coastal flooding due to storm surge are expected.
Chinese officials said the storm could be one of top five strongest ever to hit the province.
China’s state-run Xihua news agency reports nearly 85,000 fishing vessels in Guangdong province have returned to their harbors, and 82 coastal resorts have been temporarily closed.
Hundreds of flights were expected to be canceled in Hong Kong ahead of the storm.
Xinhua reports Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport canceled 60 flights Thursday, while another airport in the province, Huizhou Pingtan Airport, plans to cancel 21 flights on Friday.
The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city’s weather system, early Friday.
According to the observatory, Saola will pass within 50 kilometers of Hong Kong late Friday and make landfall in Guangdong province early Saturday.
The storm is expected to weaken as it moves south along the coast Saturday into Sunday.
Forecasters say a second Pacific typhoon, Haikui, is expected to make landfall in eastern China, south of the city of Wenzhou, on Sunday.
Some information for this report was provide by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
