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GUANGZHOU - Typhoon Chanthu, the third of the season, lashed southern China on Thursday with punching winds and heavy rain killing two people in the latest weather challenge for a country that has seen some 700 people die due to flooding this year.
Chanthu hit the coastal city of Wuchuan in Guangdong province at 1:45 pm on Thursday with wind speed up to 126 km per hour. It came as the nation is still grappling with its worst flooding in 10 years, which is expected to continue as the typhoon season gains pace.
The Guangdong provincial flood-control headquarters said Chanthu had caused economic losses of more than 2 billion yuan ($295 million) in the province, damaging more than 2,000 houses.
Chanthu's winds and rain were expected to rake Guangdong, the island province of Hainan and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region with "ferocious precipitation", the China Meteorological Administration warned Thursday.
Chanthu's strong winds, up to 35 meters a second, blew down many trees and billboards in the urban areas, paralyzing local traffic.
Electricity, telecommunications and water services were cut in some areas in the city proper after related facilities were destroyed or damaged.
Chen Rirong, a Wuchuan resident, said he saw the raincoats of many pedestrians lifted by the gale, while many umbrellas were blown away.
"I saw many broken umbrellas in streets, some of which have been flooded," he said.
The port cities of Zhanjiang, Maoming and Yangjiang in Guangdong's western coastal areas were hardest hit by Chanthu.
Two people had been killed by the storm in western Guangdong, the provincial flood-control headquarters said late on Thursday.
Guangdong and Guangxi had already been plagued by torrential rains and subsequent flooding, which killed hundreds of people over the past several weeks and caused scores of rivers and lakes across the region to reach danger levels.
At least 701 people have died in floods from the beginning of the year to July 20 across the nation, while 347 people remained missing, vice-minister of water resources, Liu Ning, told reporters on Wednesday.
Liu warned of more misery to come as the typhoon season gets into gear, saying six to eight major typhoons are expected in the coming months.
The weather administration told people in Chanthu's westward-moving path to avoid unnecessary trips outdoors until the all-clear is given.
To prepare for Chanthu, Guangdong provincial government issued emergency notices early this week to local governments and departments, urging them to take concrete and effective measures to protect people's lives and try to keep economic losses to a minimum.
And priorities have been given to protect agriculture, water conservancy projects, reservoirs, and coastal and river dikes in the flood-hit cities and counties.
Before Chanthu struck, more than 30,000 boats were required to return to typhoon shelters to avoid the disaster while at least 7,000 fishermen were evacuated to safety areas.
Affected by the bad weather, at least 26 flights have been cancelled at Meilan International Airport in Haikou, capital of Hainan province, since Wednesday.
A spokesperson with the airport said passengers who had arrived at the airport were provided with free hotel services, and no passengers were left stranded at the airport.
All Haikou's ports and railway stations suspended services as the typhoon passed by. About 100 passengers and 450 motor vehicles were stranded at local ports, said Tang Hongbo, marketing manager with Xiuying Passenger Ferry Company under the city's port management authorities.
According to an earlier report, all 26,126 fishing boats around the island province had returned to port.
No casualties were reported in Hainan.
Meteorologists in Guangdong forecast that in the coming 24 hours, Chanthu would continue in a northwest direction at a speed of 15-20 km per hour, moving over neighboring Guangxi on Thursday night while weakening gradually.
Xinhua contributed to the story.
China Daily
