Super typhoon heads for Hong Kong, China
HONG KONG/MANILA (Reuters) – A super typhoon swirled towards Hong Kong and the Chinese coast on Sunday, gaining in strength over the South China Sea after hurtling through the Philippines, where it wreaked havoc that killed at least 25.
Tropical cyclone Mangkhut is considered the strongest to hit the region this year, packing gale force winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph), equivalent to a maximum Category 5 “intense hurricane” in the Atlantic.
Philippine authorities said at least 25 people were killed, including a baby and a toddler, most of them in landslides in mountainous areas that left at least 13 missing.
Mangkhut, the Thai name for Southeast Asia’s mangosteen fruit, was expected to skirt 100 km (62 miles) south of Hong Kong and veer west towards the coast of China’s southern Guangdong province, and the gaming center of Macau.
“According to the present forecast track, Mangkhut will be closest to the Pearl River Delta around noontime (0200 GMT),” the Hong Kong Observatory said.
Hong Kong raised its highest No. 10 typhoon signal at mid-morning, as fierce waves pounded low-lying areas
NEW BERN, N.C. (AP) – The Marines, the Coast Guard, civilian crews and volunteers used helicopters, boats and heavy-duty vehicles Saturday to rescue hundreds of people trapped by Florence's onslaught,
SEOUL (AFP) – The heir to the Samsung empire and the leaders of several other South Korean conglomerates will go to Pyongyang this week for an inter-Korean summit, Seoul announced Sunday.
Samsung's Lee Jae-yong and the heads of the SK and LG groups will all be part of President Moon Jae-in's delegation as he heads for a meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong Un, Moon's office said. and strong winds rattled windows in many towering skyscrapers.
Some residents have been evacuated from low-lying areas with storm surges of up to 3.5 m (12 ft) expected.
Tens of thousands of travelers had plans disrupted after Hong Kong’s international airport, a major regional hub, canceled most flights. Airlines even as North Carolina braced for what could be a fearsome new stage of the disaster: widespread, catastrophic inland flooding. The death toll from the hurricaneturned-tropicalstorm climbed to 11.
A day after blowing ashore with 90 mph (145 kph) winds, Florence practically parked itself over land all day long and poured on the rain. With rivers swelling toward record levels, thousands of people were ordered to evacuate for fear the next few days could bring the most destructive round of flooding in North Carolina history.
More than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of rain had fallen in places, and the drenching went on and on, with forecasters saying there could be an additional 1½ feet (45 centimeters) before Sunday is out.
The vice president of Hyundai Motor Group – whose founder was a refugee from the North – will also be among the entourage.
Moon, a dove who favors dialogue with the North to nudge it toward denuclearization, has advocated closer economic ties across the border, despite multiple sanctions on the North over its atomic weapons and ballistic missile programs. such as its flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific, canceled many flights last week.
Macau officials said they shut casino gambling operations late on Saturday and China’s People’s Liberation Army was put on standby for any disaster relief assistance.
“The suspension is for the safety of casino employees, visitors to the city,
"I cannot overstate it: Floodwaters are rising, and if you aren't watching for them, you are risking your life," Gov. Roy Cooper said.
As of 11 p.m., Florence was centered about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east-southeast of Columbia, South Carolina, amd crawling west at 3 mph (6 kph) — not even as fast as a person walking. Its winds were down to 40 mph (75 kph). But with half of the storm still out over the Atlantic, Florence continued to collect warm ocean water and dump it onshore.
In its initial onslaught along the coast, Florence buckled buildings, deluged entire communities and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. But the storm was shaping up as a two-part disaster, with the second, delayed stage triggered by rainwater working its way into rivers and streams. The flash flooding could devastate communities and endanger dams, roads and bridges.
Stream gauges across the region showed water levels rising steadily, with forecasts calling for rivers to crest Sunday and Monday at or near record levels. The Little River, the Cape Fear, the Lumber, the Neuse, the Waccamaw and the Pee Dee were all projected to overrun their banks, possibly flooding cities and towns.
Authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of up to 7,500 people living within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of a stretch of the Cape Fear River and the Little River, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the coast. The evacuation zone included part of the city of Fayetteville, population 200,000. Record flooding is expected Tuesday on the Cape Fear at a crest of 62 feet (nearly 19 meters) there.
He is set to fly to the North's capital on Tuesday for a three-day summit with Kim – his third meeting this year with the young ruler of the isolated country.
The delegation of about 200 includes Seoul's top officials including its spy chief, foreign minister and defense chief as well as prominent figures in the economy, religion, culture and sports, Moon's office said.
Lee is the de facto leader of the Samsung group, by far the South's biggest conglomerate, which includes Samsung Electronics – the world's largest maker of smartphones as well as memory chips. and residents,” the government of the world’s largest gambling hub said in a statement.
China has ordered about 6,000 boats to return to harbor, and evacuated thousands of offshore oil platform workers, the state news agency, Xinhua, said.
The typhoon, or “King of Storms,” as Chinese media describe it, is expected to make landfall in Guangdong between Zhuhai and Wuchuan in the evening, weather officials say.
Ports, oil refineries and industrial plants in Guangdong have been shut. Power to some areas could also be reduced as a precaution, say grid operators.
The airport in the boomtown of Shenzhen has been shut since midnight, and will be closed until 8 a.m. (2400 GMT) on Monday. In Guangzhou, scheduled flights between noon on Sunday and 8 a.m. on Monday have been canceled.
More than 400 flights have also been canceled in the neighboring island province of Hainan.
Mangkhut’s northwesterly track will bring heavy rain and winds to the autonomous region of Guangxi early on Monday, before the storm weakens into a tropical depression to reach southwestern Yunnan on Tuesday.
BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Sunday accused Taiwan’s spy agencies of stepping up efforts to steal intelligence with the aim of “infiltration” and “sabotage,” and warned the island against further damaging already strained cross-strait ties.
The relevant agencies in Taiwan must end such activities immediately, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing An Fengshan, a spokesman of China’s policymaking Taiwan Affairs Office.
On Saturday, state television kicked off the first in a series of programs detailing cases in which Chinese students studying in Taiwan are said to be targeted by domestic spies who lure them with money, love and friendship.
The allegations come as China ramps up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to settle in China permanently, with new identity cards and other inducements.
Taiwan has warned its people to be careful of the risks involved living in an autocratic country with internet censorship and other drawbacks.
China and Taiwan frequently trade accusations of spying.
In 2017, a Chinese student studying in Taiwan was sentenced to prison for collecting sensitive information through contacts in Taiwan schools and government departments, and for trying to build a spy network on the island.
Taiwan started to allow Chinese students to study at its universities in 2009.
China sees democratic Taiwan as a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it to heel, a prospect of which Taiwan is often reminded, with Chinese warships and fighter jets periodically pressing close to the island.