Southern Chinese cities and Hong Kong yesterday shut schools and canceled flights as the region braced for one of the strongest typhoons in years that has already killed three people and led to the displacement of thousands of others in the Philippines.
Residents living in flood-prone areas put sandbags and barriers at their doors, while others taped windows and glass doors to brace for strong winds. Many people stockpiled food and other supplies on Monday, and some market vendors reported their goods were selling out fast.
Some Hong Kongers gathered on a promenade to watch waves as high as 2m to 3m splash onto the pedestrian area before the weather worsens.
Photo: Reuters
The Hong Kong Observatory said Super Typhoon Ragasa, which was packing maximum sustained winds near the center of about 220kph, is expected to move west-northwest at about 22kph across the northern part of the South China Sea and edge closer to the coast of Guangdong Province.
China’s National Meteorological Center forecast the typhoon would make landfall in the coastal area between Zhuhai and Zhanjiang cities in Guangdong today between midday and evening.
The observatory yesterday afternoon issued storm warning signal No. 8, the third-highest in the territory’s weather alert system. It recorded wind speeds of 135kph near the ground at a distance of about 120km from the typhoon’s center, indicating a wide coverage of hurricane force.
Photo: Bloomberg
The water level is forecast to rise about 2m over coastal areas in Hong Kong this morning, and the maximum water level in some areas could hit 4m to 5m above the typical lowest sea level.
The government said the water levels could be similar to those recorded during Typhoon Hato in 2017 and Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 — estimated to have caused the territory direct economic losses of more than HK$1 billion (US$128.64 million at the current exchange rate) and HK$4.6 billion respectively.
In the Philippines, Ragasa left at least three people dead and five others missing and displaced more than 17,500 people in flooding and landslides set off by the most powerful storm to hit the Southeast Asian archipelago this year, the country’s disaster-response agency and provincial officials said.
‘TERRORIST ATTACK’: The convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri resulted in the ‘martyrdom of five of our armed forces,’ the Presidential Leadership Council said A blast targeting the convoy of a Saudi Arabian-backed armed group killed five in Yemen’s southern city of Aden and injured the commander of the government-allied unit, officials said on Wednesday. “The treacherous terrorist attack targeting the convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, commander of the Second Giants Brigade, resulted in the martyrdom of five of our armed forces heroes and the injury of three others,” Yemen’s Saudi Arabia-backed Presidential Leadership Council said in a statement published by Yemeni news agency Saba. A security source told reporters that a car bomb on the side of the road in the Ja’awla area in
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
CHURCH ABDUCTIONS: Remarks by police and other officials were ‘intended to prevent unnecessary panic while facts were being confirmed,’ a spokesman said Nigerian police on Tuesday made an about-turn, saying that gunmen had abducted dozens of people during Sunday mass in northern Kaduna State after dismissing the initial reports. A senior Christian clergy and a village head had on Monday told reporters that more than 160 people were snatched from several churches on Sunday. A security report prepared for the UN said that more than 100 people had been kidnapped at multiple churches. The chief of police of Kaduna State and two senior government officials had initially issued denials, saying security officers had visited the scene of the alleged crimes and found no proof of
RSS