OMEN
05-18-2006, 08:48 AM
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Dark clouds cover the sky in Xiamen in eastern China's Fujian province on Wednesday before Typhoon Chanchu hit ground.
SHANGHAI, China - A powerful typhoon pounded China’s southern coast with heavy winds and rain Thursday, killing at least two people and flooding scores of homes. More than a half million people had been evacuated from their homes.
Typhoon Chanchu, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, slammed the city of Shantou in Guangdong province overnight before moving north into Fujian province before dawn, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Two children were killed when their homes collapsed on top of them near Shantou, Xinhua said. The storm also flooded nearly 200 homes and cut electricity in the area.Chanchu, the strongest ever typhoon reported in the South China Sea in May, was expected to move northeast along the coast at about 20 mph, entering the East China Sea later Thursday. It had winds of 98 mph near its center, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
China said it had moved 630,000 people to safety in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, although it wasn’t clear where they were staying. Nearly 100,000 ships were also ordered to return to harbor, Xinhua said.
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A surfer and his dog observe the waves off Hong Kong.
A surfer and his dog observe the waves before deciding not to enter the water in Big Wave Bay in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Some 26 flights out of Fujian were also were canceled, and Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines canceled 38 flights headed for Hong Kong and the nearby mainland city of Shenzhen, Xinhua said.
The typhoon had been heading toward Hong Kong earlier this week, but it changed course overnight, swirling about 140 miles east of the city on Wednesday afternoon. The storm kicked up high waves and spawned showers but caused no major damage in the city.
As the storm churned through the South China Sea, it caused an oil tanker to run aground near Taiwan’s southern port of Kaohsiung, officials said. Rescuers in helicopters lifted 13 crew members off the ship.
In southern Japan, high waves swept away three 17-year-old male students who were swimming off Hateruma island in the Okinawa chain, leaving one dead and another missing, coast guard spokesman Shoji Kawabata said. The third was rescued.
Chanchu swept over the Philippines last weekend, killing 37 people and destroying thousands of homes.
MSNBC
Dark clouds cover the sky in Xiamen in eastern China's Fujian province on Wednesday before Typhoon Chanchu hit ground.
SHANGHAI, China - A powerful typhoon pounded China’s southern coast with heavy winds and rain Thursday, killing at least two people and flooding scores of homes. More than a half million people had been evacuated from their homes.
Typhoon Chanchu, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, slammed the city of Shantou in Guangdong province overnight before moving north into Fujian province before dawn, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Two children were killed when their homes collapsed on top of them near Shantou, Xinhua said. The storm also flooded nearly 200 homes and cut electricity in the area.Chanchu, the strongest ever typhoon reported in the South China Sea in May, was expected to move northeast along the coast at about 20 mph, entering the East China Sea later Thursday. It had winds of 98 mph near its center, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
China said it had moved 630,000 people to safety in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, although it wasn’t clear where they were staying. Nearly 100,000 ships were also ordered to return to harbor, Xinhua said.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060517/060517_typhoon_bcol_630a.standard.jpg
A surfer and his dog observe the waves off Hong Kong.
A surfer and his dog observe the waves before deciding not to enter the water in Big Wave Bay in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Some 26 flights out of Fujian were also were canceled, and Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines canceled 38 flights headed for Hong Kong and the nearby mainland city of Shenzhen, Xinhua said.
The typhoon had been heading toward Hong Kong earlier this week, but it changed course overnight, swirling about 140 miles east of the city on Wednesday afternoon. The storm kicked up high waves and spawned showers but caused no major damage in the city.
As the storm churned through the South China Sea, it caused an oil tanker to run aground near Taiwan’s southern port of Kaohsiung, officials said. Rescuers in helicopters lifted 13 crew members off the ship.
In southern Japan, high waves swept away three 17-year-old male students who were swimming off Hateruma island in the Okinawa chain, leaving one dead and another missing, coast guard spokesman Shoji Kawabata said. The third was rescued.
Chanchu swept over the Philippines last weekend, killing 37 people and destroying thousands of homes.
MSNBC