MANILA – Taiwan shut offices and cancelled flights across parts of the south on Wednesday as Super Typhoon Saola swept past the island’s southern tip, heading towards the Chinese coast after battering the northern Philippines.

Philippine weather bureau Pagasa hoisted the third-highest wind signal over northern areas, warning of a “dangerous” typhoon and risk of damage to structures in its bulletin on Wednesday morning.

Taiwan shut some offices and schools in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung and cancelled more than a dozen flights.

Saola strengthened into a super typhoon on Tuesday night as it traversed the waters of Batanes province, according to Pagasa. The typhoon prompted the evacuation of almost 50,000 people in the Philippines to safer grounds.

With the storm around 200km off Taiwan’s southernmost point, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) had activated routine typhoon-preparation procedures at its fabs, including placing emergency response teams on standby, the company said in a statement.

TSMC had also completed inspections of all drainage and waterproof systems across the fabs to ensure there were no blockages or obstructions, with everything found to be functioning properly.

The cyclone is 800km away from Hong Kong and is likely to close in on the southern Chinese coast east of Hong Kong by Thursday, according to a statement from the Hong Kong Observatory on Wednesday. The observatory plans to issue the lowest typhoon warning on Wednesday evening, it said separately.

The cyclone packs maximum sustained winds of 195kmh near the centre and gusts of up to 240km. It was forecast to move north-westward and exit Philippine territory as early as Wednesday night.

Saola is projected to retain super-typhoon strength until Friday, and to move west along the coast of China’s Guangdong province through the weekend before weakening into a severe tropical storm by Monday, according to the Philippine weather bureau.

One factor complicating forecasts is Tropical Cyclone Haikui, currently in the Pacific east of the northern Philippines, which may interact with Saola, causing uncertainty over its path and movement, according to the Hong Kong weather agency. BLOOMBERG