Hong Kong issues No 1 typhoon warning as storm Rai approaches
Beijing, Dec 20 (EFE).- The Hong Kong Observatory on Monday issued a No 1 typhoon warning signal – the lowest on a scale of 1 to 8 – in light of the approaching tropical storm Rai.
At 4 pm, the storm was “estimated to be about 510 kilometers (317 miles) south-southwest of Hong Kong,” the Observatory said in its latest bulletin.
It “is forecast to move northeast at about 22 kilometers per hour (14 miles per hour) across the northern part of the South China Sea and weaken rapidly,” the agency added.
The Observatory also warned that there could be strong winds over offshore waters and on high ground and urged people to stay away from shorelines.
According to the Observatory’s data, this year’s autumn in the former British colony was the third warmest since record-keeping began.
In November, 230 hours of sunshine were recorded, 35 percent more than the average of the last three decades.
The strongest typhoon to hit Hong Kong in recent years was Mangkhut in September 2018.
A total of 214 people in the city were injured due to the storm, which also claimed four lives in southern China and caused severe damage in several provinces. EFE
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