Schools shut and flights cancelled in China as strong typhoon approaches

Southern Chinese cities scaled back many aspects of daily life on Tuesday with school and business closures and flight cancellations as the region braced for one of the strongest typhoons in years.

Super Typhoon Ragasa has already killed three people and displaced thousands in the Philippines.

Residents living in flood-prone areas in southern China 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 and some market vendors reported goods selling out fast.

Some people in Hong Kong gathered on a promenade to watch waves as high as three metres splash on to the pedestrian area before the weather worsens. Authorities rescued three people, including a child, from the sea.

Hong Kong’ s observatory said Super Typhoon Ragasa, which was packing maximum sustained winds near the centre of about 127mph, is expected to move west-northwest across the northern part of the South China Sea and edge closer to the coast of the province of Guangdong, the southern Chinese economic powerhouse.

More than 370,000 people were relocated in the province, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

China’s National Meteorological Centre forecast the typhoon would make landfall in the coastal area between the cities of Taishan and Zhanjiang in Guangdong between midday and evening on Wednesday.

Schools were closed in Hong Kong and the neighbouring casino city of Macao. Hundreds of residents sought refuge at temporary shelters in the financial hub.

Other cities such as the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Foshan in Guangdong, and Haikou in the province of Hainan ordered class cancellations and a gradual suspension of other businesses, production and transportation.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled in Hong Kong. Shenzhen airport will halt all flights from Tuesday night. The Macao government was evacuating residents and tourists and ordered bridges to close in the evening.

At least six people were injured and more than 7,000 people were evacuated in Taiwan when the typhoon swept south of the island, the Central News Agency reported.

In the northern Philippines, Ragasa left at least three people dead, five others missing and displaced more than 17,500 in flooding and landslides, officials said.