Hong Kong – Hong Kong hunkered down Monday as Typhoon Nida swirled towards the coast of southern China, with more than a hundred flights cancelled and schools closed.
Authorities are expected to raise a “T8” storm signal — the third-highest — in the evening as the storm edges closer to the city, packing winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour.
Flagship carrier Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary Dragonair cancelled all of their flights in and out of the southern Chinese city for 16 hours.
“Typhoon Nida moves closer to Hong Kong,” a statement jointly issued by the two airlines said Monday.
“Flight departures and arrivals at Hong Kong International Airport Monday will be suspended from 10 pm until 2 pm” on Tuesday.
That will include more than 100 flights, a Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said.
List of CX and KA flights affected by Typhoon #Nida: https://t.co/8f1DLcyP16
— Cathay Pacific (@cathaypacific) August 1, 2016
Nida will be the first major storm of the season to hit Hong Kong, which is often battered by tropical cyclones during the summer.
The storm is expected to hit the coast of southern China after it brought strong winds and torrential rains to the northern Philippines over the weekend.
Typhoon #Nida approaching Hong Kong. Significant flight disruptions expected Tues., 2 Aug.https://t.co/39xW0OUAqE pic.twitter.com/6AafuXP2cY
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) August 1, 2016
Hong Kong authorities have shut kindergartens and special needs learning institutions on Monday.
“Local winds are expected to strengthen significantly around dusk,” said a typhoon bulletin on the city’s weather observatory website.
“There will be squalls, heavy rain and rough seas after sunset. There may be flooding in low-lying areas.”
AirAsia cancels flights
AirAsia has cancelled flights to seven destinations in China due to Severe Tropical Storm Nida.
“AirAsia would like to notify that flights operating in southern China from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru for 1st and 2nd August 2016 will be cancelled due to Severe Tropical Storm Nida,” said the airline in a Facebook post on its official account on Monday.
It added that all affected passengers would be notified by AirAsia through email and SMS.
“The airline strongly encourages all guests to update their contact details at airasia.com to ensure that they are notified of any updates to their flights,” said AirAsia
The routes that are affected are:
1 August 2016:
Kuala Lumpur – Guangzhou – AK118
Kota Kinabalu – Guangzhou – AK1531
Kuala Lumpur – Shenzhen – AK128
Kuala Lumpur – Changsha – AK174
Changsha – Kuala Lumpur – AK175
Johor Bahru – Guangzhou – AK1394
Kota Kinabalu – Hangzhou – AK1574
Hangzhou – Kota Kinabalu – AK1575
Kota Kinabalu – Wuhan – AK2138
Wuhan – Kota Kinabalu -AK2139
2 August 2016:
Kuala Lumpur – Guangzhou – AK112
Guangzhou – Kuala Lumpur – AK113
Guangzhou – Kuala Lumpur – AK 119
Shenzhen – Kuala Lumpur – AK129
Guangzhou – Johor Bahru – AK1395
Guangzhou – Kota Kinabalu – AK1530
Kuala Lumpur – Macau – AK182
Macau – Kuala Lumpur – AK183
Kuala Lumpur – Shenzhen – AK126
Shenzhen – Kuala Lumpur – AK127
Kuala Lumpur – Hong Kong – AK138 and AK134
Hong Kong – Kuala Lumpur – AK139 and AK135
Kota Kinabalu – Hong Kong – AK237
Hong Kong – Kota Kinabalu – AK236
Kota Kinabalu – Shenzhen – AK1520
Shenzhen – Kota Kinabalu – AK1521
