By Stephanie Tong and Michelle Yun - Sep 29, 2011 5:10 PM GMT+0700
Enlarge image
Victoria Harbour is seen during a Typhoon 8 Signal Warning as Typhoon Nesat passes close to Hong Kong. Photographer: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Central Hong Kong's streets were emptied as Typhoon Nesat swept gale-force winds and rain into the city. Banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc closed branches, and Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. canceled equities and futures trading for the day. The storm felled trees and ripped bamboo scaffolding from buildings, while bus, tram and ferry services were suspended and at least 38 flights were delayed at the airport. (Source: Bloomberg)
Hong Kong shut financial markets, schools, courts and government offices, raising its highest storm signal in two years as Typhoon Nesat swept gale-force winds and rain into the city.
The typhoon, which killed at least 35 people in the Philippines, made landfall on China’s Hainan Island after passing Hong Kong, the city’s observatory said. The No. 8 storm warning was reduced to a strong wind signal with Nesat 450 kilometers (280 miles) away, it said at 5 p.m. local time.
Gusting winds and rain emptied the streets in the city’s financial district as HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc shuttered branches, and Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. canceled equities and futures trading for the day. The storm felled trees and ripped bamboo scaffolding from buildings, while tram and ferry services were suspended, and at least 287 flights were delayed, canceled or diverted.
“It’s deadly quiet outside, like a dark, wet, ghost town,” said Gavin Parry, managing director of brokerage Parry International Trading Ltd., who walked to work today. “There are few mini buses, no public buses and taxis are trawling for passengers to pay an extra HK$100 fare.”
The typhoon, the strongest to hit China this year, reached the southern province of Hainan at 2:30 p.m. local time, the China Meteorological Administration said in an e-mailed statement today. All flights and high-speed railway services to the resort city of Sanya in Hainan were canceled, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Banks Closed
HSBC closed at least 100 branches, Laine Santana, a Kong- based spokeswoman for the bank, said. Standard Chartered shuttered at least 75, said spokeswoman Gabriel Kwan.
Hong Kong markets were closed as Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for its biggest three-day gain since December 2009, on speculation German lawmakers will vote to expand a bailout fund for Europe’s debt-stricken nations. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent as of 5:35 p.m. in Tokyo, after having lost as much as 1.3 percent.
Not everybody was off work in Hong Kong.
“Traffic was smooth as there aren’t many cars on the roads,” Frank Huang, head of trading for fixed income at Sinopac Securities Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong, said by phone. “I have to come back to work as trading is still going on in other markets.”
Hong Kong endured fewer tropical storms in the past two years, with seven in 2011, and 11 for the previous year, compared with 28 in 2009. Typhoon Roke this month crossed Japan, causing widespread flooding and power cuts. Typhoon Muifa caused almost 3 billion yuan ($469 million) of direct economic losses in China in August, according to Xinhua .
Disappointed Tourists
Retailers including Apple Inc., which opened its first store in Hong Kong last week, Gucci Group, Coach Inc., and Folli Follie closed shops near the Lan Kwai Fong entertainment area and the International Finance Centre mall in Central.
“You would see lots of bags in my hands right now if shops were open,” said Letty Li, a 30-year-old fashion designer from Shanghai who is here on a four-day trip with friends. “I’m very disappointed since we had planned to do lots of shopping.”
Hong Kong, teetering on the edge of recession after the economy suffered its first quarterly contraction since 2009, is relying on tourist spending to bolster growth. Retail sales exceeded 20 percent for a fifth straight month in July.
“We’ve only got 5 percent of the customers that we used to have,” said Stephen Chui, a manager at the Chuen Cheung Kui restaurant at Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island. Even should customers return, it “won’t be enough to make up for the losses in the morning session.”
Flights, Port
A total of 245 flights were delayed, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Airport Authority said, declining to be identified. The airport also canceled and diverted 42 flights.
“Some flights arriving into Hong Kong have been delayed or diverted,” said Carolyn Leung, a spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (293), the city’s biggest carrier. “Passengers are advised to check the latest flight information on Cathay Pacific’s website.”
All container delivery services at ports were suspended, the government said. The police evacuated 57 people when the anchor chain of a vessel floating at Sinopec Hong Kong oil terminal on the eastern part of Hong Kong island came loose and struck the facility. No oil leakage was reported, it said.
A total of 25 people were treated at public hospitals, and the government received 418 reports of trees collapsing. The marine department said the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal in Sheung Wan was reopened after the passage of the storm.
Cold Beer
Citybus Ltd. started resuming services from 3:30 p.m. local time, customer representative Christina Li said.
With most of the city closed, some bars filled up earlier than usual.
“My clients are at home with their children and family,” Matt Skeggs, a financial adviser at deVere & Partners, said at a bar in Lan Kwai Fong. “I’d never see a client after I had a beer, and I’m on my second.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Stephanie Tong in Hong Kong at stong17@bloomberg.net; Michelle Yun in Hong Kong at myun11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hwee Ann Tan at hatan@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment