Hong Kong lowers storm signal, markets to open in afternoon

by **hlk** Tue 24 Jul 2012, 13:59

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's stock market and offices were expected to
open after the city lowered its tropical cyclone warning late on
Tuesday morning, with a severe typhoon that had battered the territory
overnight with gale-force winds weakening and moving away.
Typhoon
Vicente grounded flights and shut port operations by Monday evening and
authorities hoisted the highest No. 10 tropical cyclone signal for
several hours overnight, making it one of the strongest to hit the city
in the past decade.
A government spokesman confirmed shortly after 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Tuesday that the signal had been reduced to 3 from 8.
Financial
markets, schools, businesses and non-essential government services
close when a No. 8 signal or above is hoisted, posing a disruption to
business in the capitalist hub and former British colony that returned
to Chinese rule in 1997.
Typhoon Vicente began veering away from
the city and weakening earlier on Tuesday but, with the No. 8 signal
up, the stock market was closed for the morning.
With the signal lowered to 3, the stock market will open at 1 p.m. Hong Kong time (0500 GMT).
Separately,
China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert for
Typhoon Vicente, the second highest warning level in China's four-tier
typhoon warning system, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Strengthening
gale-force winds uprooted trees, churned up huge waves in Hong Kong's
Victoria Harbour and sent debris flying, injuring some 30 people as
Vicente slammed into the city and the western reaches of China's
Guangdong province.
Fifteen flights were cancelled and more than
200 delayed late on Monday, aviation authorities said, although Hong
Kong's main carrier Cathay Pacific said it planned to resume some
flights. Affected airlines are expected to have to clear a sizeable
backlog of stranded passengers.
The Hong Kong Observatory raised
the No. 10 signal early on Tuesday as Vicente swept much closer to Hong
Kong than initially thought, making this the first time the highest
typhoon signal had been raised since 1999.
More than 30,000
Chinese fishing boats were alerted to return to harbour, with 10,560
fishermen taking shelter ashore in Guangdong, Chinese state media
reported. Storm surges and sea wave warnings were heightened, with
winds of up to 100 kph (60 mph) expected. - Reuters