Thousands evacuated as typhoon targets China

HONG KONG - China evacuated more than 600,000 people as the strongest typhoon on record to enter the South China Sea in May bore down on the south coast today, causing flight and shipping delays around the region.

Typhoon Chanchu, packing winds up to 170 kph, was forecast to make landfall northeast of Hong Kong in Guangdong province later today after killing 37 people as it swept across the Philippines last weekend.

Chinese state television news said some 320,000 people were evacuated from their homes along the coast of Guangdong province, while more than 300,000 were moved in neighbouring Fujian province.

Fujian called back all ships to port, and Guangdong called back in more than 58,000 vessels as schools suspended classes, it said, adding that strong rainfalls brought by Chanchu were posing flood threats.

An ore-carrying Belgian ship with eight crew members aboard was trapped some 200 sea miles offshore on the South China Sea and a Chinese rescue vessel was expected to reach it later tonight, the news broadcast said.

In Taiwan, where most areas were lashed by heavy rains, rescuers winched to safety the crew of an oil tanker that had run aground off the coast of Kaoshiung in the south after being hit by a large wave, television footage showed.

According to a forecast map on the Tropical Storm Risk website, the typhoon was skirting the coast of China and would weaken as it advanced north. The eye would make landfall within the next few hours, and the next major city it would pass was Xiamen, in Fujian province, within about 12 hours.

On the southern coast, road workers struggled to keep motorways along the coastline clear of debris including tree branches as large waves crashed over the embankments, television pictures showed.

The government issued warnings to residents in central mountain areas of landslides and flooding caused by the heavy rain, as mountain rivers already had begun to rise, threatening bridges and roads.

Shipping links between Taiwan's outlying islands of Quemoy and Matsu and the Chinese coastline were suspended as the storm approached, media said, with the central weather bureau saying Quemoy and Penghu island's would be directly threatened.

In Hong Kong, winds of up to 65 kph caused flight delays and some shipping services were suspended, but the former British colony's government weather observatory said the threat was receding as Chanchu churned northwards.

In China, rescue ships, helicopters and thousands of paramilitary troops were standing by, and all sea transport to the Chinese island province of Hainan had been halted, state media reported.

In the Philippines, Chanchu killed at least 37 people and "affected" about 53,300 people in wide areas of Luzon and the Visayas, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said in a report yesterday.

- REUTERS