Ports and oil terminals in Hong Kong and southern China shut down operations today, forcing tankers to anchor offshore to ride out one of the biggest typhoons to threaten the South China coast in years.
Typhoon Megi, which killed 19 people in the Philippines, looked set to make landfall on Saturday east of Hong Kong, one of the world's most crowded cities and a key trade and finance hub.
Over 50,000 fishing vessels have returned to port, while on the tropical resort island of Hainan, vulnerable to heavy flooding, as many as 200,000 people had been moved from low-lying areas along with another 150,000 from the southeastern coastal
province of Fujian, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Marine authorities say the typhoon could generate a huge and destructive "50-year storm surge" along the China coastline.
"The storm surge could be so devastating that buildings, docks, villages and cities could be destroyed by it," Bai Yiping, director of South China Sea Forecasting Center of the State Oceanic Administration was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Cyclonic storms, known as typhoons in Asia, usually threaten between May and September when sea waters are at their warmest.
"At present we estimate its (wind) intensity at around 175km/h," said Lee Tsz-cheung, a senior scientific officer in Hong Kong. "We still cannot rule out the possibility of Megi intensifying further."
Tropical Storm Risk predicted the storm would weaken and make landfall between Hong Kong and Zhangzhou, to the east of the former British colony.
Major shipping ports in southern China, including Shenzhen and Zhuhai, which funnel a flood of goods worldwide from the manufacturing powerhouse of the Pearl River Delta, were closed today, bringing possible temporary disruptions to Christmas orders being shipped overseas.
Meanwhile, five of Hong Kong's main oil products terminals on Tsing Yi island were closed ahead of the storm, an official with shipping and logistics agency GAC said.
Oil platforms in the eastern part of the South China Sea were evacuated yesterday. Asia's top oil refiner, China's Sinopec Corp, suspended some small volumes of fuel loading destined for Hong Kong, a source said. "Tankers are leaving and going for anchorage," he said.
The eastern coast of the South China Sea produces around a quarter of China's offshore oil production.
Neighbouring Taiwan warned shipping of high winds and strong waves. A ship sank in the Taiwan Strait earlier this week, with one person on board killed.
Typhoons usually weaken significantly after making landfall in China, but sometimes do a U-turn and regain strength from the warm sea water to threaten once again.