HONG KONG (Reuters) -Super Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, lashed Hong Kong with hurricane-force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday as the city shut down and more than 700 flights were cancelled.
Roads were deserted as authorities instructed people to stay indoors and surging waves topped over parts of the Asian financial hub’s eastern and southern shoreline.
“Areas which were previously sheltered may become exposed…seas will be phenomenal with swells,” the observatory said.
Ragasa, packing winds of up to 200 kph (124 mph), will be closest to the city in the next few hours, skirting around 100 km (60 miles) south of the densely populated territory.
It is expected to maintain super typhoon intensity as it edges closer to the coast of China’s Guangdong province, home to more than 125 million people, where it is expected to make landfall from midday to late Wednesday.
Ragasa swept through the northern Philippines on Monday and Taiwan on Tuesday.
The typhoon sparked panic buying this week, with people piling into supermarkets, leaving little on the shelves and in some cases queuing for hours to purchase goods amid fears that shops could be closed for two days.
As the typhoon approached, residents taped their windows in the hope of minisiming any danger from shattered glass.
Hong Kong issued the typhoon signal 10, its highest warning, early on Wednesday, which urges businesses and transport services to shut down.
Authorities also issued the Amber rainstorm signal, expecting heavy rain to continue, with some streets already partially flooded, according to the South China Morning Post.
Authorities have warned of rising sea levels, saying they could be similar to those seen during Typhoon Hato in 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, both of which caused billions of dollars in damage.
“The water level will reach the maximum around noon (0400 GMT), generally to around 4 metres (13 feet)” the observatory said.
A woman and her five-year-old son were swept into the ocean on Tuesday after watching the typhoon from the waterfront, according to the SCMP, which said they are now in intensive care after being rescued.
The government said it has opened 49 temporary shelters in various districts and 727 people have sought refuge at the shelters.
Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange will remain open. It changed its policy late last year to continue trading whatever the weather.
Guangdong authorities have evacuated over 770,000 people, state broadcaster CCTV said.
In the gambling hub of Macau next to Hong Kong, authorities also issued the No. 10 warning signal early on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree, Jessie Pang and the Hong Kong newsroom; Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast.)
