Southern China braces for Typhoon Yagi after it sweeps by Hong Kong

A powerful typhoon swept south of Hong Kong and was moving toward a Chinese island province where it was expected to make landfall Friday, forcing many aspects of life in the region to a halt.

Trading on the stock market, bank services and schools were halted in Hong Kong after the city's weather authority raised a No. 8 typhoon signal for Typhoon Yagi, the third-highest warning under the city's weather system.

Yagi, with maximum sustained winds of 230 kilometers (142 miles) per hour near its center, forced more than 250 people to seek refuge at temporary government shelters and led to cancellations of more than 100 flights in the city.

Heavy rain and strong winds overnight felled dozens of trees across the financial hub before the weather gradually calmed on Friday morning. The weather forecaster was expected to downgrade the typhoon signal in the afternoon.

In Hainan, a tropical holiday island in southern China, residents were bracing for the powerful storm. The province's ...