A powerful typhoon swept through China’s southern Guangdong province on Sunday, killing at least 25 people and prompting the cancellation of hundreds of flights, before being downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday morning, officials said.
Typhoon Usagi doused the province’s Pearl River Delta region with heavy rains and high winds that blew cars off the road, led to the evacuation of thousands of people and widespread electricity outages.
Hong Kong, the densely packed financial center within the delta, was relieved to be spared the storm’s worst affects.
Still, in anticipation of a major weather event, the territory canceled both morning trading sessions of the region’s securities and derivatives markets and shut down transportation. Thousands of people triedwith varying successto leave before the typhoon’s expected arrival.
On Monday morning, Hong Kong gradually returned to normal, as winds subsided and public transportation resumed.
Guangdong wasn’t as lucky. State-run media reported that at least 25 people were killed in the province as the result of the storm. The deaths mostly concentrated mostly in and around Shanwei city, where two people were killed by a falling tree branch and a villager was killed by falling window glass.
Electricity and water were cut off in Huilai County, where wind speeds topped 111 miles an hour. A woman was missing after a fishing boat capsized.
What had begun as a major typhoon with 124-mile-per-hour winds barreling towards Hong Kong over the weekend suddenly shifted course to the north on Sunday afternoon.
Elsewhere, two people were killed in storm-related deaths in Taiwan, where the storm passed on Friday before moving to Southern China. In the Philippines, Usagi left at least two people dead and two missing in a boat accident on Friday, authorities said.
The storm hit the northern tip of the main island of Luzon on Saturday with gusts up to 250 kilometers per hour. Further south, Manila was pounded by heavy rain and thunder. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said two passengers drowned and two others were missing when a boat capsized in heavy seas on Friday.
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