New storm pops up on HK's radar

Another typhoon is expected to affect Hong Kong this week, days after super typhoon Saola lashed the city. Signal No 1 is being considered for this morning when tropical cyclone Haikui nears after directly hitting Taiwan.

At 4pm yesterday, Haikui was centered about 110 kilometers east-northeast of Kaohsiung and was forecast to move west-northwest at about 15 kilometers per hour across the southern part of the island.

According to the observatory's forecast track, Haikui enters the Taiwan Strait today before moving toward the coast of eastern Guangdong to southern Fujian.

Haikui is forecast to bring showers to eastern Guangdong in the middle and latter parts of the week.

Parents are hoping Haikui will not affect Hong Kong seriously as students are expected to return to school today after the beginning of the term was postponed on Friday due to Saola.

A Facebook user said: "It is so annoying to see another typhoon coming. Please issue a black rainstorm signal instead so that classes will be suspended. Parents would still need to bring children to school amid an amber rainstorm signal or a Strong Wing Signal No 3."

In Taiwan, nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas in the eastern part of the island ahead of Haikui as authorities prepared for the first major tropical storm to directly hit the island in four years.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said Haikui - which already brought heavy rains by yesterday morning - made landfall at 5pm yesterday in Taitung.

"It is expected to pose a considerable threat to most areas in Taiwan with winds, rains and waves," it said.

The typhoon was packing a sustained wind speed of about 154kph, prompting more than 200 domestic flights to be canceled and businesses in the southern and eastern parts of the island to close yesterday.

Authorities said they had evacuated more than 2,800 people across seven cities, mostly from the mountainous county of Hualien, which neighbors Taitung.

The streets of Hualien were deserted yesterday morning, battered by unrelenting rain, while a fishing harbor in northeastern coastal Yilan county saw towering waves slam against the shore.

In Taitung county, residents marveled at the whipping winds and rain that led momentarily to white-out conditions. "I almost forgot what it's like to be in a typhoon. What big winds!" a restaurant owner said, after making sure his shop was protected. "Saturday was so calm that we did not feel like a typhoon was coming."

Back in Hong Kong, authorities activated the "government-wide mobilization" level for the first time to clean the mess caused by super typhoon Saola, Secretary for Home Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said.

Some 100 civil servants from three government departments - legal aid, ratings and valuation and trade and industry - on Saturday helped take the elderly back to their care homes in Shau Tau Kok, Tung Chung and Lei Yue Mun, as well as helped move sandbags and clear the roads.

Authorities were also busy clearing collapsed trees on roads. The government received over 1,500 tree collapse reports. And the Development Bureau said the Buildings Department and tree management groups stepped up inspection to move away fallen trees and signboards.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com