Thousands evacuated as typhoon targets China
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-17 19:22
China evacuated as many as 320,000 people as the strongest typhoon on record
to enter the South China Sea in May bore down on the south coast on Wednesday,
causing flight and shipping delays around the region.
Typhoon Chanchu, packing winds up to 170 kmh (106 mph), was forecast to make
landfall northeast of Hong Kong in Guangdong province later on Wednesday after
killing 37 people as it swept across the Philippines last weekend.
Hong Kong radio said some 320,000 people were evacuated from the coast in
Guangdong province while Xinhua news agency put the number at more than 180,000.
Xinhua quoted provincial rescue officials as saying that by Tuesday night
25,219 ships had been called back to port.
In Taiwan, where most areas were lashed by heavy rains, rescuers winched
to the crew of an oil tanker that had run aground of the coast of Kaoshiung
in the south after being hit by a large wave, television footage showed.
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 footage showed.
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