Schools, businesses, and government services have been disrupted after the T8 signal was hoisted during the early hours.
The Hong Kong Observatory raised the No. 8 Northwest Gale or Storm Signal at 6:10am, and said it was expected to stay in force for most of the day. The signal indicates that winds with mean speeds of at least 63 kilometres per hour are expected from the northwest.
At 10am, Typhoon Haima was centred around 140 kilometres east-southeast of Hong Kong, and is predicted to move northwest or north-northwest at about 25 kilometres per hour, towards the region east of the Pearl River Estuary.
Based on the current forecast track, the typhoon will be closest to Hong Kong at around noon, when it is forecast to be 100 kilometres east of the territory. We truly wish any Coconauts who forgot to get groceries the best of luck trying to scrape a decent lunch together.
Longtime Hongkongers know the drill in terms of precautions, but just in case there are any newbies reading: basically, stay indoors, keep your valuables in a safe place, reinforce your windows, doors, gates, etc… and for the love of all things good, don’t do any damn water sports. Otherwise, unless you’re an unlucky passenger on the 689+ flights that have been cancelled, you’re (probably) good.
Typhoon Haima is the second tropical cyclone to affect the city this week, after Typhoon Sarika came, saw, and didn’t do a whole lot of conquering. A northeast monsoon that followed Sarika ended up drenching the city in a Black Rainstorm and causing quite a few flash floods, though.
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