A typhoon with winds up to 180kph lashed China’s south coast yesterday, leaving a trail of destruction and flooding, and prompting authorities to issue their highest “red alert” emergency response.
Typhoon Mujigae made landfall near Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province at about 2:10pm, the China Meteorological Administration said.
Television reports and images circulating on China’s popular social media site Sina Weibo showed flooded streets and vehicles overturned by the fierce winds, although Xinhua news agency said there had not yet been any reports of casualties.
The typhoon had prompted coastal provinces in southern China to order fishing fleets to stay ashore and to cancel scores of flights and rail services. The main affected areas were Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, as well as Hainan.
In Hainan and coastal Guangdong, about 60,000 fishing boats were recalled to harbor to shelter from the storm, Xinhua said.
It added that some vessels had been caught out at sea with winds expected to be between 162kph and 180kph.
The typhoon is likely to disrupt plans for thousands trying to travel during the week-long public holiday in China. Xinhua said about 80,000 people had traveled to Hainan on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard searched for 23 fishing boats with more than 120 fishermen lost when Mujigae hit the main island of Luzon.
Nearly 30 fishing boats with more than 150 fishermen were returning from the South China Sea when Mujigae caught them at sea, the regional disaster and risk reduction agency yesterday said in a report.
Coast guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said search-and-rescue ships were scouring the sea west of Pangasinan after two cargo ships bound for Japan had picked up nine fishermen from a capsized boat.
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