Super Typhoon Saola pummelled the south of Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain, shutting offices and cancelling some flights before heading to Hong Kong.
Authorities in Taiwan, where no typhoon has made landfall since 2019, closed offices and schools in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung yesterday and cancelled more than a dozen flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said it has placed emergency response teams on standby.
The cyclone was located around 190km off Taiwan’s southernmost point as of yesterday morning, packing sustained winds of 191kph and gusts of up to 234kph, according to the island’s Central Weather Bureau.
Saola, which has rapidly intensified from a low-pressure area north of the Philippines last week into a super typhoon, is likely to close in on Hong Kong by today, according to the Hong Kong Observatory. The authorities there issued the lowest typhoon warning yesterday evening.
China’s National Meteorological Center forecasts the typhoon to make landfall in Guangdong or Fujian tomorrow and has issued an orange alert, the second-highest in its four-tier colour-coded system for severe weather. Saola is projected to retain super-typhoon strength until tomorrow, and to move west along the coast of China’s Guangdong province through the weekend, weakening as it goes, according to the centre.
One factor complicating forecasts is Tropical Cyclone Haikui, currently in the Pacific east of the northern Philippines, which may interact with Saola, causing uncertainty over its path and movement, according to the Hong Kong weather agency.
The Philippines has borne the brunt of the typhoon so far, with nearly 200 towns flooded and 50,000 people forced to flee to safer grounds. Schools in several northern provinces are closed as wind signals remain hoisted in those areas.
More than 40 roads and bridges remain unpassable in the north of the country.
Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba extended the suspension of classes, while parts of Ilocos Sur province also shut schools Wednesday. — Bloomberg
