Hong Kong Braced for Typhoon

Two people were killed, half a million homes suffered power cuts and hundreds of schools were evacuated yesterday as the most ferocious typhoon of the year tore through Taiwan and headed for Hong Kong.

The government in Hong Kong opened 27 temporary shelters as the territory braced itself for typhoon Dujuan, which was destroying buildings with winds of up to 96mph.

Public transport was halted and shops, schools and businesses in Hong Kong closed early . Trading on the stock market was suspended for the afternoon and could be delayed today.

Torrential rains and powerful gusts blacked out communities in Taiwan. A 54-year-old man drowned after falling off a breakwater into the ocean.

In the Philippines, thousands of miles from the centre of the typhoon, schools were evacuated and the streets of Manila were flooded.

In Taiwan 115,000 homes were still without power after 580,000 were blacked out in the morning.

Most people in Hong Kong rushed home to put tape on their windows to give protection against shattered glass after the Hong Kong Observatory issued a storm warning, and the government opened the shelters for those seeking refuge.

The typhoon disrupted traffic at Hong Kong international airport, with 134 flights cancelled and 94 delayed.

Six or seven typhoons pass near Hong Kong each year, but direct hits are rare. In 2001, one person was killed by Typhoon Utor.

In 1962, Typhoon Wanda killed 130 people, left 53 missing and sank or wrecked nearly 1,300 small ships.