Hong Kong, Sep 1 (IANS): Hong Kong ground to a near standstill on Friday with classes and flights cancelled as Typhoon Saola edged closer and is expected to brush the city later in the day. 

Saola lost super typhoon status as winds dropped from 240 km per hour to 220 kph (140 mph), though still remains the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. The storm previously impacted parts of northeastern Philippines, CNN reported.

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) issued a T8 storm warning signal at 2:40 a.m. local time Friday morning, escalating from the lower category T3 on Thursday afternoon.

It came after China issued a typhoon red warning, the highest level in a four-tier alert system, as Saola approached Guangdong, the media outlet reported.

China's national observatory on Thursday renewed a red alert for Typhoon Saola, the most severe warning in its four-tier typhoon warning system. Saola is expected to bring gales and heavy rain to southern and eastern parts of the country.

Typhoon Saola is expected to make landfall somewhere in the coastal areas stretching from Huilai to Hong Kong on Friday afternoon or Friday night. However, there is also a chance of it moving west by south, passing through the waters off eastern Guangdong without making landfall, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Thursday, China's Ministry of Transport said that it has deployed 16 high-power rescue-and-salvage ships and nine rescue helicopters in eastern and southern coastal areas that could be hit by Typhoon Saola and Typhoon Haikui.

The ministry has also readied five emergency rescue teams for coastal areas of Guangdong and Hainan, as well as the Pearl River estuary area, as Typhoon Saola, the ninth typhoon of this year, draws near. Meanwhile, six such teams have been deployed for the Taiwan Strait, Zhejiang and the Yangtze River estuary area, where Typhoon Haikui, the 11th typhoon of this year, is expected to hit.

Typhoon Haikui is expected to enter the southeastern areas of the East China Sea on Friday night.