Typhoon Nuri moved to about 300 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong on Thursday evening, forcing cancellations of at least 10 flights scheduled for arriving in and departing the Hong Kong airport on Friday.

The Hong Kong Observatory issued a No. 3 strong wind signal at 8:40 PM on Thursday, saying "winds with mean speeds of 41 to 62 kilometers per hour are expected."

The typhoon was forecast to move west-northwest at about 14 kilometers per hour and strong winds were beginning to affect the offshore waters. Nuri would be rather close to Hong Kong on Friday and the weather is expected to deteriorate on Thursday night, with strong winds and heavy rain over the next couple of days.

The Observatory also said it did not rule out the possibility of issuing a storm signal No. 8, which was only seen on rare occasions when typhoons hit the city.

Dragonair announced that ten of its flights into and out of the Hong Kong airport on Friday have been canceled due to the typhoon threat. The canceled flights were due to depart or fly to cities such as Shanghai, Fuzhou, Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Other flights could also be delayed or canceled, the company added.

Cathay Pacific, another major airline, said the remainders of the flights on Thursday were operating as normal, but there could be delays and cancellations on Friday.

Some of the ferry services leading to neighboring mainland piers were also canceled, and the double-deck buses were advised to leave the upper deck empty.

The Transport of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said it was monitoring the public transport and road conditions closely and that information on the operation of the local transport system will be relayed to the media for broadcasting.

The equestrian events of the Beijing Olympics were proceeding as scheduled so far. The Equestrian Company, organizer of the events, has said earlier that the events were not affected. The awarding of the last medal was expected in the evening.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)