Hong Kong grinds to halt as Typhoon Talim lashes city, forcing school closures, disruption of flights
- Downpours lash city late into night; Observatory warns showers to continue in coming days
- Greater Bay Airlines flight forced to return to Taiwan and refuel after failing to land twice in city, before eventually arriving later in evening
Most of Hong Kong ground to a halt on Monday as Typhoon Talim brought strong winds and heavy rain, forcing many workers to stay at home, the cancellation of school classes and the disruption of flights as the No 8 warning signal remained in effect for nearly 16 hours.
Downpours lashed the city for most of the day and late into the night, while the Observatory warned showers were expected to continue in the coming days, although the weather would improve closer to the weekend.
A No 8 warning signal was issued at 12.40am for the first typhoon of the year, named Talim, which means “sharp” in Tagalog, but was lowered at 4.20pm to No 3 as it moved towards the Leizhou Peninsula. An amber rainstorm warning issued at 5.50pm was cancelled at 7.30pm.
The No 3 alert was downgraded to a No 1 at 2.40am on Tuesday, with all warnings lifted by 8.40am.
“Talim has made landfall near Zhanjiang, Guangdong. Local winds are also weakening gradually. However, under its influence, occasional gales are still affecting the offshore waters of the southwestern part of the [city] and high ground,” the Observatory said.