Typhoon Saola slams shores of southern China after lashing Hong Kong

Typhoon Saola slammed the shore of southern China early Saturday (September 2) after lashing Hong Kong and forcing millions of people to hunker down amid threats of one of the strongest storms to hit the region in decades.

Tens of millions of citizens across Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and other southern Chinese megacities had prepared for the cyclone, which was rated as a super typhoon. The typhoon fiercely hit the special administrative region, Saola but made a landfall south of Hong Kong after it was downgraded to a severe typhoon.

China's National Meteorological Centre stated that the typhoon made landfall at around 3:30 am Saturday (2030 GMT Friday) towards the south of Zhuhai city in Guangdong province, which lies in the south of casino hub Macau.

Ahead of the landfall of the typhoon, more than 880,000 people were evacuated from two Chinese provinces hundreds of flights were cancelled and trees were uprooted from the streets of Hong Kong amid heavy downpours.

The National Weather Office of China predicted Saola "may become the strongest typhoon to make landfall in the Pearl River Delta since 1949", referring to a low-lying region that includes Macau, Hong Kong, and much of Guangdong province.

With the possibility of a direct hit, the warning level was raised to the highest level “T10” by the authorities in Hong Kong on Friday, which has been issued 16 times since World War II before Saola.

Typhoon weakens

By 3:40 a.m. local time, after the warning level remained at T10 for seven hours, the level was downgraded to T8 by Hong Kong. However, as dangerous gusts blew at a speed of 139 kilometres (86 miles) per hour, the residents were appealed to remain vigilant.

"As gales and violent squalls are still occurring in places, precautions should not yet be relaxed," warned the Hong Kong Observatory in a bulletin.

WATCH |Hong Kong: Super typhoon Saola approaches, Hong Kong slammed by biggest Typhoon since 2018

The observatory stated that "the maximum water level may reach a historical record", warning that "there will be serious flooding".

Throughout the mainland border in Guangdong province, more than 780,000 people were evacuated by the authorities from high-risk areas, while eastern Fujian province saw around 100,000 being moved to safer ground.

The officials also suspended trains in and out of Guangdong till 6:00 pm Saturday, while the emergency response for preventing its second-highest level was raised by the national flood defence agency.

"It's going to affect our life," stated Wu Wenlai, 43, whose restaurant was closed in a Shenzhen suburb. "My eldest son was planning to fly to Chengdu today for university and his flight has been cancelled now,” Wenlai said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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