Typhoon Pakhar hits South China

Pakhar, the 14th typhoon of the year, landed around 9 am on Sunday in the city of Taishan, South China’s Guangdong Province, bringing gales of up to 33 meters per second.

Pakhar hit the province soon after Typhoon Hato, which landed Wednesday in Zhuhai, some 80 kilometers away from Taishan.

The meteorological center of Zhuhai said the city would encounter rainstorms and fierce winds. Local companies, government agencies, schools and public places have been closed since Saturday.

China’s National Meteorological Center ( NMC) said that Pakhar would move northwest, entering South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Sunday, while losing strength.

The agency forecast Guangdong, East China’s Fujian and South China’s Hainan provinces as well as Guangxi would see torrential rain from Sunday to Monday afternoon.

Hainan maritime authorities suspended the service of roll- on/ roll- off passenger ships and cross- sea trains running in and out of the province. A total of 24,124 fishing boats have returned to harbor.

Ma Jianhua, an official with the Yangtze River flood control headquarters, said Hato had brought about a visible rise in the Yangtze, and personnel were dispatched to Southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces to aid flood control.

In Yunnan, two more people have been found dead in disasters triggered by Hato.

Six people went missing after houses collapsed in a flood caused by heavy rain on Friday in Yanjin county.