Super Typhoon Saola hurtles towards southern China.

Super Typhoon Saola hurtles towards southern China

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China issued its highest typhoon warning on Thursday as Super Typhoon Saola drew closer to the southern coast, with several cities delaying the start of the school year as a precaution.

China issued the most severe warning in its four-tiered system, with the National Meteorological Centre predicting the typhoon would make landfall "somewhere in the coastal areas stretching from Huilai to Hong Kong" by Friday afternoon at the earliest.

But there was also a possibility it could move west and "pass through the waters of eastern Guangdong without making landfall".

The Guangdong city of Shanwei, closest to where Saola is expected to make landfall, ordered a halt to classes, transport and most economic activity until the all-clear is sounded. Other cities, including Shantou, Shanwei, Jieyang and Chaozhou, have ordered the start of the school year to be delayed until Monday.

Train services have been suspended across Guangdong, state news agency Xinhua said, while various cities in the southern province -- including Shantou, Shanwei, Jieyang and Chaozhou -- have pushed the start of the academic year to Monday.

Regional airports have also suspended flights until the storm passes.

Other typical safety precautions include recalling fishing boats to port and moving people who work on coastal fish and shrimp farms further inland, but no figures on evacuations were immediately released.

Authorities in Macau said they were eyeing the possibility of issuing its third-highest typhoon warning on Saturday.

Saola displaced thousands earlier this week as it passed the northern Philippines but no direct casualties have been reported from it so far.

Southern China is frequently hit in summer and autumn by typhoons that form in the warm oceans east of the Philippines and then travel west.

While they can cause temporary disruption to cities like Hong Kong and Macau, fatalities have become much less common thanks to stronger building codes and better flood management systems.

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Source: The Standard

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Quantum's specialist team is following up this situation closely, in order to keep all clients properly informed. Besides of that, we're working together with our Asian partners to minimize possible impacts in the logistics chain of our shipments.

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