HONG KONG // At least 25 people were killed after Typhoon Usagi crashed ashore in southern China on Monday, raising the death toll from this year’s most powerful storm to more than 40.
Schools and businesses were shut as activity in the normally teeming Hong Kong slowed to a crawl after Usagi battered a long swathe of coastline with torrential rain and winds of up to 165kph during the night.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, monsoon rains worsened by Usagi caused floods and landslides that left 18 people dead and others stranded on rooftops.
The reports by Xinhua news agency did not say how the 25 were killed in China but said all the deaths were in Guangdong after the typhoon brought down trees and damaged roads. Dozens more were injured in accidents.
Bullet trains from Guangzhou city to Beijing were suspended and winds were strong enough near Shanwei to blow cars off the road. More than 47,000 fishing boats were in harbour and schools were closed in 14 coastal cities.
China’s civil affairs ministry said 226,000 people were relocated due to the storm and more than 7,100 houses collapsed or were badly damaged.
The typhoon cost the province 3.24 billion yuan (Dh1.95bn) in direct economic losses, the ministry said.
Usagi had previously killed two people in the Philippines and unleashed landslides and power outages across southern Taiwan at the weekend as it ploughed through the Luzon Strait with ferocious winds and heavy downpours.
Monsoon rains worsened by Usagi brought flooding on Monday to Manila and nearby provinces.
The most severely affected area was the province of Zambales, about 80 kilometres northwest of Manila where heavy rains caused rain-soaked soil to cascade down, killing 18 people in different parts of the province.
The mayor of Subic, Jay Khonghun, where the majority of victims died, said the heavy rains and chest-deep floods had isolated the town of 160,000.
As the typhoon bore down on Hong Kong, operators shut down one of the world’s busiest sea ports and nearly 450 flights were either cancelled or delayed on Sunday as Cathay Pacific and other airlines imposed pre-emptive suspensions.
Hong Kong’s Observatory said it was the strongest typhoon to brush the city since 1979. Tens of thousands of people had their travel plans upended with ferries and trains also disrupted, while Cathay resumed flights only from noon on Monday.
Many passengers were forced to stay overnight at the airport, sleeping on the floor or spending the night playing card games. Many milled around the departure hall hoping to rebook their flights.
But handwritten signs warned them that there was little chance of getting standby seats on flights out on Monday and to check back later.
“We’ve waited for so long ... and we still can’t leave. Who would not be unhappy?” said Iris Ouyang, a 26-year-old marketing officer, after waiting more than 12 hours for her China Southern flight.
“Before we had good feelings towards Hong Kong, but not anymore.”
Lau Ka-wing, a passenger from Hong Kong, was equally frustrated.
“I tried to contact them (airline) and no one picked up the phone. The only way I can do is come over to the airport but no one served me,” he said.
Airlines scrambled to clear the backlog of passengers by regrouping passengers and arranging extra flights as more than 1,000 passengers waited in the check-in area.
But airport authorities foresaw a second day of flight disruptions, with more than 480 scheduled flights being cancelled or delayed on Monday.
Officials in Hong Kong, which is well versed in typhoon preparations, said 13 people were injured during the storm, while more than 60 trees had fallen.
Major thoroughfares were empty and signboards swayed in the wind early on Monday, but some residents ignored official warnings and headed out to the coast to brave the wind.
The city’s stock market opened at in the afternoon on Monday after all storm warning signals were lowered.
On its way towards southern China, Usagi had forced the evacuation of 3,400 people in southern Taiwan.
Twelve people were injured in Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled island off China’s Fujian province, after they were hit by falling trees.
Before hitting Taiwan, Usagi brushed the far north of the Philippines where a man and a woman drowned on Friday when their boat capsized in high seas. Another three people remain missing.
* Agence France-Presse
