Maximum alert triggered in Hong Kong as typhoon Wipha approaches: around 500 flights cancelled

Hong Kong authorities issued a warning on Sunday morning for “hurricane force winds”, the maximum level, as Typhoon Wipha approached the coast of southern China, forcing the government to close nurseries and cancel around 500 flights.

Wipha was around 60 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong at around 10 a.m. local time, and continues to strengthen as it approaches the coast of China's southern Guangdong province, the Hong Kong Meteorological Observatory said.

The observatory raised the alert to its maximum level of “T10”, indicating that “hurricane-force winds” with “average speeds of 118 kilometers per hour or more are expected”. The typhoon was expected to bypass the financial center during the day on Sunday, some 50 kilometers to the south, “posing a considerable threat to Hong Kong”.

The Chinese provinces of Hainan and Guangdong have also been put on alert, according to the official China News Agency. A representative of the Hong Kong Airport Authority said on Sunday that around 500 flights had been cancelled due to the bad weather, while another 400 were expected to take off or land later in the day.

More than 200 people took refuge in government-run temporary shelters. The local press reported that large waves were observed off Heng Fa Chuen, a residential area in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island.

A man was admitted to the emergency ward of a public hospital on Sunday morning, according to the local press, and the authorities received more than a dozen reports of falling trees. On Sunday, the authorities suspended the activities of nurseries and schools, and trains ran on reduced service.

Hong Kong had last raised its warning signal to level T10 when super typhoon Saola passed through in 2023. Two people were reported missing in the Philippines after the passage of Wipha, according to local authorities.