Hong Kong lowers signal to T3 as typhoon Yagi edges away

HONG KONG, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — The Hong Kong Observatory on Friday issued the No. 3 signal in revising the wind intensity as Super Typhoon Yagi weakened and moved away from Hong Kong.
On Thursday afternoon, the observatory issued this year’s first No. 8 Northeast Gale or Storm Signal under the effect of Yagi.
Chan Kwok-ki, chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said that the Security Bureau’s Emergency Monitoring and Support Center was put into operation on Thursday evening, with the staffing level lifted.
Various government departments have also made arrangements to deal with the aftermath of Yagi, so that the market and other activities in Hong Kong can return to normal as soon as possible after the typhoon went away, according to Chan.
Due to typhoon Yagi, the flag-raising ceremony scheduled for Friday morning at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai district was canceled. In line with the direction by the Education Bureau, classes of all day schools in Hong Kong remained suspended on Friday.
By 10 a.m. local time Friday morning, the Home Affairs Department of the HKSAR government had opened 30 temporary shelters to cover all the districts of Hong Kong, and 269 people had sought refuge in them.
On Friday flight operations are planned to recover to 80 percent of the normal level at the Hong Kong International Airport. ■