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The Philippines, China and Taiwan are bracing for three severe tropical storms that are already menacing low-lying areas, delaying the restart of school, and likely to bring destructive winds, widespread floods and landslides.
Most of Hong Kong and other parts of southern China ground to a near standstill on Friday with classes and flights cancelled as super typhoon Saola (formerly Goring) edged closer.
The typhoon was due to make landfall in southern China and many workers stayed at home. Students in various cities saw the start of their school year postponed to next week. Hong Kong’s stock market trading was suspended and more than 400 flights were cancelled or delayed in the key centre for regional business and travel.
Mainland Chinese rail authorities ordered all trains entering or leaving Guangdong province to be suspended from Friday night to early evening Saturday, state media CCTV reported.
The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city’s weather system, earlier on Friday. Its forecast said Saola – with maximum sustained winds of 210km/h —– would be closest to the financial hub on Friday night and Saturday morning, skirting within about 50km south of the city’s shopping district Tsim Sha Tsui.
Some Philippine financial markets were suspended after government offices, including the central bank, were shut due to monsoon rains from the three typhoons. Many cities suspended classes due to heavy rains and floods.
Saola, severe tropical storms Haikui (known in the Philippines as Hanna) and Kirogi, were enhancing a south-west monsoon season and would continue to bring rains to the west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, according to the weather bureau, which warned of floods and landslides.
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