Super Typhoon Saola sweeps towards southern China cities
Tens of millions of people in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and other southern Chinese megacities sheltered indoors Friday as Super Typhoon Saola threatened to become the strongest storm to hit the region in decades.
Hundreds of flights were canceled across the region, the start of the school year was delayed in Hong Kong, and the rain-drenched finance hub's streets were deserted.
With a direct hit on Hong Kong possible, authorities warned they may raise the warning level to T10—the city's highest alert, which has only been issued 16 times since World War II.
China's national weather office said Friday that Saola "may become the strongest typhoon to make landfall in the Pearl River Delta since 1949", referring to a low-lying region that includes Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province—home to tech hub Shenzhen.
By 3 pm (0700 GMT), Saola was 140 kilometers (around 85 miles) east-southeast of Hong Kong, packing sustained winds of 210 km per hour.
Neighboring Shenzhen—home to 17.7 million people—opened shelters for people to take refuge, and planned to halt public transportation.
Trains in and out of Guangdong will also be suspended from 8 pm to 6 pm Saturday.
"It's going to affect our life," said Wu Wenlai, 43, who runs a restaurant in a Shenzhen suburb which he had to close.
"My eldest son was planning to fly to Chengdu today for university and his flight has been canceled now," Wu added.
Sand bags are placed to stop flooding by the waterfront at Tseung Kwan O in Hong Kong as Super Typhoon Saola barrelled towards China's southern coast.