Typhoon Utor bore down on Hong Kong and the populous southern China coast last night after ripping through the northern Philippines and Taiwan, killing at least 55 people and leaving over 30 missing in landslides and floods.
Utor, one of the most powerful storms in the area in years, battered a wide area of the main Philippine island of Luzon on Wednesday with winds gusting up to 170kph before it moved out into the South China Sea early yesterday.
The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted the typhoon number eight signal, the third level of a five-stage warning system, forcing the cancellation of public ferries.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
By nightfall, the center of the typhoon was estimated to be about 320km east-southeast of the territory of seven million people, and was forecast to move northwest at about 22kph towards the coast of China's densely-populated Guangdong Province.
"It is now headed towards southern China and bearing down on Hong Kong," weather bureau forecaster Leny Ruiz said.
Supermarkets in Hong Kong were packed with shoppers stocking up on food and other essentials and some schools sent younger students home early. Video rental shops did a booming business.
Hong Kong's dominant airline, Cathay Pacific Airways, said it would cancel or defer up to 20 flights.
Most of the reported deaths were in the Philippines, including 34 people buried in landslides in the mountain resort city of Baguio and adjacent Benguet Province, and 20 people who were electrocuted by downed power lines. More than 70 people were injured and dozens reported missing.
The storm caused widespread flooding in northern Philippine provinces, affecting 55 towns and about 2,700 villages, with some of the water neck deep, police said.
More than 10,000 people fled to evacuation centers and over 200 houses were damaged. Soldiers and police were using rubber boats to rescue people from villages cut off by the floods.
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