People struggle to control their umbrellas in high winds caused by Typhoon Nida on Aug. 2, 2016 in Hong Kong. (Photo : Getty Images)
Typhoon Nida has swept across southern China, with the port city of Guangzhou issuing its first-ever red storm alert and Hong Kong bracing for flooding and landslides.
The typhoon, which packed winds up to 151.2 km per hour, landed at 3:35 AM Tuesday at the Dapeng Peninsula in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday citing local weather authorities.
The typhoon was expected to travel across the manufacturing hub of Guangdong and gradually weakening as it reaches the neighboring Guangxi region.
In Hong Kong, most of the financial center was closed, with gale-force winds grounding hundreds of flights and low-lying areas placed on flood alert.
Airport Authority Hong Kong said more than 150 flights were cancelled and 325 flights to be rescheduled, causing hundreds of passengers to remain stranded at the airport.
Ferry, train, and bus services were also suspended, while streets were largely deserted and shops were closed. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
Hong Kong authorities closed nursery schools and special needs learning institutions on Monday, while ferries between Hong Kong and the gambling strip of Cotai in Macau were also suspended.
In mainland China, the cities of Zhuhai and Shanwei in Guangdong province issued red alerts - the highest in China's four-tier warning system. Shenzhen issued a yellow alert, which is the third most serious.
The alert caused all work, production, and school classes in Guangzhou to be suspended, while members of the public were advised to stay indoors, Xinhua reported.
All trains departing from Guangdong were also cancelled on Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of passengers affected.
"It's the strongest typhoon to hit the Pearl River Delta since 1983 and will bring severe flooding," local official He Guoqing told reporters.
More than 220 flights out of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai airports were cancelled on Tuesday before the storm passed over earlier this week, according to the Sohu news portal.
Nearly 2,000 workers constructing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge were evacuated on Monday morning and more than 2,000 others working on an offshore oil platform were relocated to safety on Sunday evening, Xinhua reported.
Nida brought strong winds and torrential rains across the northern Philippines over the weekend, while southern China was hit hard by storms this summer.
Super Typhoon Nepartak struck Taiwan in July, leaving at least 69 dead once it made landfall in mainland China's eastern province of Fujian, despite being downgraded to a tropical storm.
