Hong Kong  - At least 50 flights out of Hong Kong were delayed Sunday as tropical storm Neoguri caused a weekend of travel chaos in the former British colony.

A huge backlog of flights was being dealt with Sunday after the delay of 100 cancelled flights on Saturday when heavy rains and high winds whipped the city of 6.9 million as Neoguri passed by.

Hong Kong raised its earliest typhoon alert for more than half a century as localized flooding incidents were reported across the city when the storm hit southern China Sunday evening.

Hong Kong's Airport Authority said Sunday it expected at least 50 flights to be delayed largely because of the backlog caused on Saturday. Ferry services were also suspended Saturday.

The storm's worst impact was in China's Hainan island, however, where 18 fishermen were reported missing and thousands of residents were evacuated from flooded homes.

Hong Kong's flagship airline Cathay Pacific announced Sunday it had cancelled four flights to Auckland, Johannesburg, Los Angeles and Amsterdam as a result of the storm.

Eighteen of Cathay's flights were diverted to nearby airports on Saturday, leaving the airline struggling to return operations to normal, a spokeswoman said.

Neoguri, which began as a typhoon, was downgraded to the status of tropical depression Sunday as it weakened during its passage over southern China. (dpa)