Hong Kong halts trading, closes schools post-typhoon

Reuters

Asian finance hub Hong Kong halted trading at its stock exchange on Monday and closed schools after Typhoon Koinu generated torrential rainfall overnight.

Koinu — which caused one death in Taiwan last week — had weakened into a severe tropical storm by Monday, said the Hong Kong Observatory, as it moved toward the coastal areas of Guangdong Province.

The storm caused non-stop rain overnight, leading the agency to issue a "black" rainstorm warning signal — its highest — for about six hours before it was downgraded at 10:30am (2:30am GMT).

More than 150 millimeters of rain were recorded over most parts of the territory since midnight Monday, and rainfall exceeded 300 millimeters over some parts of urban Hong Kong island, data showed.

"Heavy rain will bring flash floods... People should stay away from watercourses," the observatory said, adding that residents living near rivers be alert in case they need to evacuate.

The city's third-highest storm warning signal — "T8" — was to remain in place until 11:40am local time.

Due to the storm warning, trading at the city's stock exchange was suspended in the morning session, but was expected to resume at 2pm.

Schools and daycare centers, ordered to shut when authorities issued the T8 signal a day earlier, remained closed on Monday.

This was the second time in a month the city has issued the black rain warning.

In early September, Hong Kong experienced its highest rainfall in nearly 140 years, flooding subway stations and malls, and causing landslides.

Transport disruptions

While no major damage was initially reported, the hoisting of the second-highest typhoon warning on Sunday evening caused issues at Hong Kong's international airport, where hundreds of arriving passengers were stranded without bus, subway or taxi services.

"A large number of arriving passengers had to wait for a relatively long time because the AirPort Express — a main transport link between the airport and the city — was suspended due to safety reasons," said an airport representative on Monday.

After the storm was downgraded just before midnight, "12 train rides provided more than 18,000 seats for the passengers who waited an average of three hours", the official said.

In Guangdong Province — where Koinu is expected to sweep past en route to Hainan island — the cities of Zhuhai and Jiangmen issued a Level III emergency response, according to the Xinhua news agency on Sunday.

That meant more than 35,500 fishing boats had to return to port, while dozens of coastal scenic areas were temporarily closed.