Sharjah24 - AFP: Typhoon Saola swept across southern China on Saturday after tearing down trees and smashing windows in Hong Kong, although the megacity avoided a feared direct hit from one of the region's strongest storms in decades.
Tens of millions of people in the densely populated coastal areas of southern China had sheltered indoors on Friday ahead of the storm.
Saola had triggered Hong Kong's highest threat level on Friday evening -- issued only 16 times since World War II -- and registered winds of around 210 kilometres per hour at its peak.
It was downgraded before dawn on Saturday as the typhoon passed the city and tracked towards coastal areas of mainland China, with no reported casualties and far less damage than created by 2018's powerful Typhoon Manghut.
But authorities warned people to remain on alert, with Saola still packing sustained winds of 145 kilometres per hour at its centre, creating a storm surge that caused rough swells around waterfront areas.
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