After Hong Kong, Typhoon Nuri hits China

Torrential rain is expected over the weekend as Nuri moves northwest, ebbing gradually, it added. The typhoon is now headed along the Guangdong coastline towards the gambling hub of Macau, where flights and ferries were also cancelled.

Much of Hong Kong ground to a standstill on Friday with the closure of financial markets, schools and offices. Howling winds swept across the former British colony, uprooting trees and churning white-tipped waves in Victoria harbour.

Streets were largely deserted and shops shuttered, with trees and scaffolding toppled by winds of up to 94 kph recorded in parts of the territory.

The last time a storm of such severity hit Hong Kong was typhoon Dujuan in September 2003. Around 400 flights were cancelled or delayed by early evening.

The tropical cyclone signal was upgraded to a relatively rare No 9, one short of a direct hit, as Nuri closed in on the city after wreaking a path of destruction in the northern Philippines.

It was not clear how the city would cope with a backlog of over 400 flights. A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Airport Authority said arrangements would be made with the airlines, and flights would resume after midnight.

In China’s Guangdong province, tens of thousands of people were evacuated from coastal areas and fishing boats called back to port. The Guangdong meteorological bureau warned it might be the strongest typhoon to hit the province this year.

Hong Kong’s Olympic equestrian events were spared the worst of typhoon Nuri, with the last showjumping event successfully concluded on Thursday night.