The progress of Usagi

Super typhoon Usagi cuts power, unleashes landslides in Taiwan

SUPER Typhoon Usagi, the most powerful storm of the year, has brought torrential rain and ferocious winds to Taiwan, leaving tens of thousands without power and throwing travel plans into disarray as it barrelled towards Hong Kong.

News.com,  21 September, 2013 1 pm GMT

Southern Taiwan was battered by the storm on Saturday, which rolled past the Batanes island group in the far north of the Philippines overnight - tearing coconut trees in half - and headed on towards the Chinese mainland.

By 11am (1pm AEST), Usagi was 610 kilometres southeast of Hong Kong, forcing local carrier Cathay Pacific to warn that all its flights in and out of the city will be cancelled from 6pm on Sunday.

Usagi was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 195 kilometres per hour, the Hong Kong Observatory said, as people in the city reinforced windows in anticipation of the approaching storm's impact.

In Taiwan's southern Pintung county, storms flooded remote villages, forcing troops to evacuate dozens of people, the state Central News Agency said.

'I thought a tsunami was hitting... I've never encountered this before in my life,' it quoted as saying a 60-year-old woman who was scrambling to safety with her pet.

Six people were injured in Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled island off China's southeastern Fujian province, after they were hit by fallen trees, according to the Central Emergency Operation Centre.

The typhoon uprooted trees and brought down powerlines near the town of Hengtsun in Taiwan. Picture: AFP/Sam Yeh

The typhoon also left 45,000 homes powerless and more than 5000 households without water, it said. Pictures showed overturned vehicles, fallen branches and rivers of muddy water flooding the streets.

A total of 77 domestic and five international flights were cancelled and ferry services suspended, with schools and offices in many parts of Taiwan closed, especially in the south and east, authorities said.

The defence ministry deployed more than 3000 soldiers to 'high-risk' areas and placed 24,000 others on standby.

Nearly 3000 people had already been evacuated, officials said, as the Central Weather Bureau warned people to expect up to 1.2 metres of rain.

In the Philippines' Batanes island chain terrified locals spent the night in their houses as savage winds raged outside.

'This is the strongest typhoon to hit Batanes in 25 years,' Dina Abad, the district's representative to Congress, told AFP.

'The howling winds began at midnight and they churned up to eight-metre waves that damaged the port and sank moored fishing boats,' she said, quoting a mayor of one coastal town.

She said coconut trees were torn in half or were uprooted, while terrified residents couldn't sleep as the storm battered roofs above their heads. The aviation tower at the island's airport was also badly damaged.

'I think the estimate of the damage will be bigger tomorrow when have a clearer assessment on the ground,' she said.

In Hong Kong, officials issued a standby signal number one, the first in a five-step tropical cyclone warning system with winds expected to strengthen later Saturday and on Sunday.

'It is anticipated that disruptions will continue on 23 September, Monday,' flag carrier Cathay Pacific said in a statement.

Operators at the city's port, one of the busiest in the world, said they would cease work late Saturday.

China's National Meteorological Center issued a red alert - its highest-level warning - as it forecast gale-force winds and heavy rain.

It said Usagi would affect the coastal areas of the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian as it moved northwest.

Nearly 23,000 fishing boats had earlier taken shelter in Fujian province ahead of the storm, state media reported, while more than 4,000 people living in coastal areas were evacuated.

The region is regularly pummelled by tropical storms. Typhoon Bopha left a trail of destruction in the southern Philippines last year, triggering floods and landslides that left more than 1800 dead and missing and displaced nearly one million people.

In August 2009, Typhoon Morakot killed about 600 people in Taiwan, most of them buried in huge landslides in the south, in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the island in recent years.

Hong Kong rarely suffers major loss of life as a result of tropical storms, although Typhoon Rose in 1971 killed 110 people in the city.

From Hong Kong media

Hong Kong braces for worst storm in 34 years as Typhoon Usagi closes in

Shoppers clear supermarket shelves and observatory warns of 'severe threat' as Severe Typhoon Usagi closes in on Hong Kong tonight

South China Morning Post,

21 September, 2013 (with updates_

Hong Kong is bracing for what could be the most powerful typhoon to hit the city in more than three decades.

As Severe Typhoon Usagi - packing sustained winds of 173km/h with gusts up to 209km/h- bore down on the city, the observatory issued a "severe threat'' warning. It hoisted the No 3 typhoon signal at 11.40pm yesterday and warned people in low-lying areas to take special precautions.

Technicians at the Daya Bay nuclear power plant in Guangdong took steps to ensure the installation was secure. The Security Bureau said the government had contingency plans in case of the nuclear plant was damaged.

Observatory senior scientific officer Mok Hing-yim warned of "astronomically" high tides and a storm surge.

Usagi will be closest to Hong Kong this evening. Shoppers cleared supermarket shelves of food as word spread that it could deliver a direct hit to the city.

The storm lashed the east and south coasts of Taiwan as it passed between the island and the Philippines' Batanes island chain yesterday. While the storm had weakened from super typhoon status, at least two people were killed in the Philippines and two others were missing.

"This is the strongest typhoon to hit Batanes in 25 years," Dina Abad, congresswoman for the Batanes islands, said. "The howling winds began at midnight and they churned up to eight-metre waves that damaged the port and sank moored fishing boats."

Taiwan's defence ministry deployed more than 1,600 soldiers to evacuate people living in areas vulnerable to flooding and landslides, according to the United Daily News. Mudslide warnings were issued for seven counties. Taiwan cancelled 82 domestic and international flights yesterday, with 33 delayed.

In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair cancelled all flights into and out of the city from 6pm today. China Airlines cancelled 26 flights between Hong Kong and Taiwan and Indonesia. Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express also cancelled at least six flights.

Cathay Pacific ‪@cathaypacific

Due to the impact of Super Typhoon Usagi,operations at Hong Kong will stop from 18:00 on 22Sep through 23Sep.More at
http://www.cathaypacific.com

 3:53 AM - 22 Sep 2013

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Mok said that if the typhoon signal No 8 was issued, Usagi would be the strongest typhoon to hit Hong Kong since Typhoon Hope in 1979, which killed 12 people and injured 260.

At 6am today, Usagi was about 430 kilometres east-southeast of Hong Kong. It was forecast to move west-northwest at about 18km/h, closing in on the Pearl River Estuary later today. Weather will deteriorate significantly during the day with rough seas and heavy squally showers.

According to the present forecast track, Usagi will be closest to Hong Kong around tonight and tomorrow morning.