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Typhoon Noul hits near Hong Kong, triggers No 9 storm alert
The Observatory upgraded its warning to No 9 early Sunday, later lowering it, as typhoon-strength winds lashed the city and disrupted travel, with about 350 flights and more than 190 high-speed rail services cancelled.
Typhoon Noul triggered a No 9 storm signal in Hong Kong and made the third-closest approach to the city by a major storm this century, according to SCMP Economy. Despite violent winds rattling buildings overnight, the outlet reports that damage in Hong Kong was relatively minor.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued the No 8 signal at 10:10pm on Saturday, upgraded it to No 9 at 1:10am on Sunday, then lowered the alert to No 8 six hours later and set the No 3 signal in force by 12:40pm. Noul came within 80 km of the city, compared with other close typhoons including Saola, Hato, and Wipha, and the closest recorded storms remain Alice in 1961 and Shirley in 1968.
Winds during previous nearby storms reached 120 km/h to 145 km/h for those systems that passed directly over Hong Kong, SCMP Economy notes. For Noul, the story says maximum sustained winds near the center reached 45 metres per second as it made landfall near Huizhou at about 3:50am.
SCMP Economy also reports that Noul was the first typhoon to hit Guangdong this year, and the storm prompted major disruptions in travel, with about 350 flights and more than 190 high-speed rail services cancelled on Sunday.