Flight chaos as Hong Kong hunkers down for major typhoon

HONG KONG, Sept 22 (agencies): Severe Typhoon Usagi barrelled towards Hong Kong Sunday, shutting down one of the world's busiest sea ports and throwing flight schedules into disarray from Europe to the United States. Usagi packed winds of 165 kilometres (103 miles) per hour as it closed in on China's densely populated Pearl River Delta, forcing some residents in vulnerable areas to tape up windows and stock up on supplies. The storm, described by meteorologists as the most powerful anywhere on Earth this year, killed two people in the Philippines and unleashed landslides in Taiwan en route to Hong Kong. The southern Chinese city's authorities Sunday issued the third of a five-step tropical storm warning. The Observatory, hoisting the No. 8 signal, said it was likely to bring "severe" disruption to the city-with transport systems affected and expectations of high waves and flooding in low-lying areas. At Chek Lap Kok airport, airline counters were besieged by anxious passengers hoping to rebook their flights after the Cathay Pacific group said it was cancelling all its flights from 6:00 pm (1000 GMT) Sunday. With many other airlines following Cathay's lead, only a handful of flights were still scheduled to land or take off after 6:00 pm. Incoming flights from London, Sydney and Chicago among other cities were cancelled, and thousands of people risked being stranded at their point of origin or in Hong Kong. Operators at Hong Kong's sea port, one of the world's busiest, ceased work late on Saturday, stranding many giant tankers in sea channels not far from shore. The financial hub is well versed in typhoon preparations and enforces strict building codes, so rarely suffers major loss of life as a result of tropical storms. But the observatory warned against complacency, saying that Usagi was set to become the strongest storm to hit Hong Kong since 1979 when Typhoon Hope killed a dozen people and injured 260. Usagi-which means rabbit in Japanese-was located about 160 kilometres (100 miles) east northeast of Hong Kong as of 7:00 pm (1100 GMT) and was expected to make landfall in the coming hours.