145,000 evacuated as typhoon hits China

by Sanjay Jha | September 25, 2008 at 03:22 am

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With winds of over 100 miles per hour, Typhoon Hagupit made landfall in southern China's Guangdong province today, days after wreaking havoc on the Philippines. Three ships from Hong Kong-based based luxury Star Cruises have also been affected by the storm.

The typhoon and torrential rains killed at least 18 people in southern and central China, leaving more than 20,000 stranded in Sichuan province, which was devastated by an earthquake earlier this year.the official Xinhua News Agency has reported that Heavy rain in Sichuan killed at least eight people and left 38 missing, .

At least three people died and tens of thousands were evacuated on Wednesday as Typhoon Hagupit brought gales and torrential rain to much of southern China.

The island province of Hainan evacuated about 107,000 people from vulnerable areas while two cities in nearby Guangdong province moved more than 38,000 as the typhoon approached, news reports said.

Hagupit made landfall in Guangdong’s Dianbai County near the city of Maoming, packing winds of more than 200 kilometres per hour at its centre, the government’s Xinhua news agency quoted meteorologists as saying.

One man died in Dianbai after he was blown down while trying to repair the roof of his house, the local Yangcheng Evening News said. Gales uprooted many trees and tore down billboards while officials in Maoming said a fishing boat sank off Dianbai but no casualties were reported, Xinhua said.

All schools were closed in the worst-hit areas of Guangdong, and streets were deserted during the morning rush hour, it said.

Some reports said the typhoon was the worst to buffet Guangdong in a decade.

It weakened into a tropical storm later Wednesday, but heavy rain was forecast to continue on Thursday, bringing the risk of floods and landslides.

A team of 130 police officers battled for four hours early Wednesday to rescue about 50 people stranded when their village was flooded, the agency said.