The hurricane signal No. 10, Hong Kong’s highest-tier typhoon alert, will be lowered to the No. 8 southeast gale or storm signal at 1:20 pm on Wednesday as Super Typhoon Ragasa was departing from the city gradually.

"With Ragasa moving towards the coast of western Guangdong, its associated hurricane force winds will also depart from Hong Kong gradually," the Hong Kong Observatory said in a bulletin.

The weather will be persistently adverse with frequent heavy squally showers and thunderstorms, the weather forecaster warned.

At noon, Ragasa was centered about 160 km southwest of Hong Kong and is forecast to move west or west-northwest at about 22 km per hour, edging closer to the vicinity of the western coast of Guangdong, according to the observatory.

ALSO READ: HK races to fortify coast as Super Typhoon Ragasa nears

Local winds will veer gradually from easterlies to southeasterlies in the morning and areas which were previously sheltered may become exposed, the weather forecaster added.

The amber rainstorm warning signal, which indicated that heavy rain had fallen or was expected to fall over 30 millimeters in an hour, cancelled at 11:50 am. The landslip warning and the special announcement on flooding in northern New Territories had been issued.

High waves

“Seas will be phenomenal with swells. There will be overtopping waves over the shoreline, which will be particularly significant along the eastern and southern coasts,” said the observatory.

Ragasa brought significant storm surge. with the water level over the coast of Hong Kong generally rising to 3.4 meters or more above chart datum in the morning.

Used on nautical charts, chart datum is a reference level so low that the tide will not frequently fall below it.

"The water level over the western coast is still rising slightly and is expected to reach the maximum in the next couple of hours", according to the observatory.

ALSO READ: Classes, flights suspended as Super Typhoon Ragasa approaches

Winds will weaken gradually at night but showers will still be heavy at first on Thursday and the weather will improve gradually in the following couple of days, the observatory added.

Family rescued

During the super typhoon, three members from a family were rescued after falling into the sea near Chai Wan, the Hong Kong Police Force said on Tuesday.

The family of four was watching waves from a breakwater when the mother and the 5-year-old son were swept into the sea. The father jumped in immediately in an attempt to rescue them.

Boatmen nearby helped pull the three from the water before firefighters arrived on the scene and took them to the hospital.

The mother and the boy were hospitalized in an unconscious but stable condition. The father remained conscious.

It was the second time this year the HKO issued the hurricane signal No 10. The last time was in July 20 when Typhoon Wipha battered Hong Kong with hurricane-force winds and heavy squally showers.

With Xinhua’s inputs