Twenty people – eight men and 12 women – sought medical treatment on Wednesday as tropical storm Wipha battered Hong Kong.
On Wednesday, a Typhoon Signal No 8 warning was issued by the Hong Kong Observatory and was posted for 10 hours. The 1823 Government Call Centre received 10 reports of fallen trees on Wednesday.
Heavy rain and strong winds hit Hong Kong in the evening. A man uploaded a video of the storm hitting On Tai Estate, a public housing estate in Kung Tong in Kowloon.
The Civil Engineering and Development Department received one report of a landslide. Flooding was reported in Pat Heung and Kam Tin in New Territories and firefighters were deployed to rescue some villagers trapped in their homes.
In Lei Yue Mun in Kowloon and Heng Fa Chuen on Hong Kong, residents did not suffer much due to strong preparations to prevent flooding. There had been some flooding in the two districts when Hong Kong was struck by typhoons last year.
The Home Affairs Department opened 25 temporary shelters in various districts and 205 people sought refuge at the shelters.
The Airport Authority Hong Kong reported a total of 693 flights being delayed and 25 flights canceled on Wednesday. Tram, Peak Tram and ferry services were suspended on Wednesday.
The No 8 signal was replaced by a No 3 at 11:30pm after the wind died down. Classes at kindergartens, schools for children with physical disabilities and schools for children with intellectual disabilities were suspended on Thursday.
At 3pm on Thursday, the Strong Wind Signal No 3 was still in force. This means winds of between 41 and 62 kilometers per hour were expected. Wipha was estimated to be about 370 kilometers west-southwest of Hong Kong and was forecast to move north or north-northwest at about 10 kilometers per hour across western Guangdong.
The rainbands associated with Wipha will still bring occasional heavy showers and squalls to Hong Kong. Seas are rough with heavy swells, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
