Aftermath of typhoon Saola in Hong Kong

Typhoon Saola swept across southern China on Saturday. Saola had triggered the city's highest threat level in Hong Kong on Friday evening. It was downgraded before dawn on Saturday after the typhoon passed the city and tracked towards coastal areas of mainland China. Saola was still packing sustained winds of 145 kilometres per hour at its centre, creating a storm surge that caused rough swells around Hong Kong's waterfront areas.

Overnight Saola made landfall in the coastal area of Zhuhai in neighbouring Guangdong province, and is expected to weaken as it moves along the southern coastline. Authorities had evacuated more than 780,000 people from high-risk areas, while eastern Fujian province saw more than 100,000 moved to safer ground. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, businesses closed, and transportation in and out of the affected areas had been halted.