Saola barrels into Hong Kong, inundates China

BEIJING: Typhoon Saola made landfall in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong early on Saturday as violent winds lashed nearby Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau, leaving at least one dead and a trail of destruction and flooding in many areas.

Meanwhile, Taiwan issued a warning on Saturday for a second typhoon, Haikui, which was expected to pass over the island Sunday, before travelling onward to the central Chinese coast.

Guangdong province's meteorological bureau said the powerful storm churned into an outlying district of the city of Zhuhai, just south of Hong Kong at 3:30am. It was weakening as it moved in a southwesterly direction along the Guangdong coast at a speed of around 17 kilometers per hour, prompting Hong Kong to resume flights and subway and rail train services.

Packing winds of more than 200 kph as a super typhoon, Saola was among the strongest to menace the southern province since 1949. It was a severe typhoon, Chinese authorities said, as it made landfall in Zhuhai city with winds slowing to around 160 kph.

On Friday, 780,000 people in Guangdong were moved away from areas at risk as did 100,000 others in neighbouring Fujian province. More than 80,000 fishing vessels returned to port.