Gale force winds buffeted some areas of Hong Kong early on Thursday morning as Tropical Storm Toraji slowly made its way towards the Pearl River Estuary.

The T8 storm signal was issued at 11.10pm on Wednesday and will remain in force until 10am on Thursday at the earliest.

By 3am, Toraji was centred around 140 kilometres south-southeast of Hong Kong, and was not expected to come much closer.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the storm has been taking a more westerly track, and is moving west slowly.

Winds in excess of 90 kilometres an hour have been recorded on Waglan Island and Tate’s Cairn, but the Observatory said it expects the wind to weaken later in the morning.

"Local winds will moderate gradually during the day on Thursday”, Senior Scientific Officer Yeung Kwok-chung said in a briefing.

“Depending on the movement of Toraji and the weakening trend of local winds, the Observatory will assess the time of issuing the Strong Wind Signal No. 3."

The Education Bureau said classes of all morning and whole-day schools, including secondary schools, primary schools, schools for children with physical disability, schools for children with intellectual disability, kindergartens, and kindergartens-cum-child care centres, will be suspended on Thursday.

It added that afternoon and evening classes would resume if the T8 is downgraded before 10.30am.

The MTR Corporation said it would continue providing rail services -- albeit at limited frequencies.

It was trains on most lines would run at 10-minute intervals, while there would be 15 minutes between trains operating between Tiu Keng Leng and Lohas Park, a 20-minute gap on the Disneyland Resort line, as well as for East Rail trains running between Admiralty and Lok Ma Chau.

Light rail services would run at intervals of between 15 and 20 minutes during the T8 signal.

More than 100 people have sought shelter at 27 temporary shelters opened in various districts by the Home Affairs Department.

Authorities had by 2am received one single report of a fallen tree, while there have been no reports of landslides or flooding.
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Last updated: 2024-11-14 HKT 05:43