1 killed as typhoon ravages Hainan
Print Edition
THE strongest typhoon to hit southern China in more than 40 years made its second landfall yesterday, authorities said, after leaving at least one man dead in Hainan Province where it made first landfall.
Super Typhoon Rammasun hit the city of Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province last night, local meteorological authorities said.
After its outer bands lashed Hong Kong overnight, the storm landed in Hainan about 3:30pm yesterday, packing winds of up to 216kph, the National Meteorological Center said.
The typhoon — the strongest to hit the region since 1973 — is set to bring torrential rains, it said.
The storm claimed its first victim in China soon after coming ashore in Hainan’s Wenchang City, when a man was killed by debris as his house collapsed, said town head Liu Chunmei.
State broadcaster China Central Television showed images of wind-whipped trees in Hainan and high waves churned up by the typhoon.
“Super Typhoon Rammasun is too frightening,” wrote one person on a local social media platform, adding that it “came ashore with fierce winds.”
A person riding in a taxi wrote: “It’s raining so hard, the wipers don’t help and it’s hard to see the road ahead.
“The road is full of water and tree branches, and the heavy wind has blown some branches onto the power cables.”
With roads blocked and water and power supplies cut off, Wengtian — a town administered by Wenchang — has become virtually isolated.
Xu Quanzhun, a public security official in the city, said authorities anticipate a rise in fatalities as dozens of people reported injuries before the power was cut. “Some rescuers are on their way to places in need of help, but I’ve lost contact with them too," Xu said.
The Wenchang public security frontier detachment has dispatched 60 officers to Wengtian.
As of 1pm yesterday, more than 210,000 residents of Hainan had been evacuated, the provincial command center for flood prevention said.
The local Red Cross Society is delivering tents and rice to the region, and the Red Cross Society of China is allocating disaster relief goods to the province.
At the central primary school in Wencheng, more than 200 evacuated residents were given bottled water, instant noodles and bread yesterday.
An official said preparations had been made for the arrival of more evacuees.
Airports, train stations, bus stations and ports in Hainan have all been closed, while ferry, rail and bus services have been suspended.
In the neighboring province of Guangdong, highways are also closed and boats have been called back to harbor.
In the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which was expected to receive the typhoon last night, trains have been canceled.
Hainan Governor Jiang Dingzhi said local authorities should give priority to people’s safety, but must also prepare for possible secondary disasters, such as landslides.
The Guangdong government has launched its highest level emergency response.
Construction projects, schools and businesses have all been suspended in the cities of Maoming and Zhanjiang.
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