Typhoon Koppu moved near Hong Kong on Monday, forcing the canceling of ferry services and prompting the city's Observatory to issue strong wind and storm signals.

The Hong Kong Observatory issued the No. 3 strong wind signal at 11:15 a.m., and upgraded it to the No. 8 gale or storm signal at 5:55 p.m., which means that winds with mean speeds of 63 kilometers per hour or more were expected.

"At 8 p.m., Typhoon Koppu was centered about 160 km south of Hong Kong and is forecast to move northwest or west-northwest at about 16 km per hour towards the west coast of Guangdong (Province) ," the Hong Kong Observatory said.

Ferry services have mostly been canceled, with some employees leaving their offices earlier than usual in order to get home before the storm came. Some of the bus services were also canceled.

The Airport Authority said it expected some of the flights to be affected by the typhoon.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2009)