Typhoon Wipha was battering the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau with rain and high winds on Sunday, as the storm neared mainland China with a force equivalent to that of a Category 2 Atlantic hurricane.
The typhoon brought heavy showers, sea swells and sustained winds of about 106 miles per hour as it skirted the southern edge of Hong Kong, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, the territory’s weather agency.
Wipha was forecast to grow in intensity, barreling west toward the casino hub of Macau before making landfall somewhere between the nearby southern Chinese coastal cities of Shenzhen and Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province late on Sunday, China’s meteorological agency said. Guangdong’s meteorological service said Wipha was expected to come ashore with Category 2-force winds.
Hong Kong issued a No. 10 hurricane signal, the highest on its warning scale, for the first time since 2023 as the storm approached. The warning level was later downgraded as the storm began to move away.
At Hong Kong International Airport, more than 400 flights were rescheduled, the territory’s public broadcaster reported. At Macau International Airport, nearly 200 flights were canceled, the airport said.
The authorities in some southern Chinese cities closed some workplaces and ports, suspended some trains and canceled some flights.
In Zhuhai, a city of about 2.5 million people that lies in the typhoon’s expected path, the authorities closed construction sites, parks, ferries, piers and outdoor playgrounds on Sunday. In Zhanjiang, schools and some workplaces also closed.
After making landfall, Wipha is expected to keep moving across southern China before moving offshore again and making landfall in Vietnam, China’s meteorological agency said.
Joyce Lau contributed reporting from Hong Kong.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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