Haima churns towards China
Big waves hit a waterfront as yesterday. Reuters pic BEIJING: Typhoon Haima churned towards southern China yesterday after smashing into northern Philippines with ferocious wind and rain, triggering floods, landslides and power outages and killing at least 13 people.
China suspended rail services in several provinces on the mainland’s south, where the typhoon was expected to make landfall in the afternoon.
In the city of Shenzhen, authorities ordered schools, markets and factories to close, halted public transportation and evacuated some areas.
Hong Kong hunkered down as Haima lashed the financial hub with rain and wind gusts of up to 109kph.
Schools and offices were shut, trading on the stock market suspended and commuter ferry services halted after the third most serious storm signal was hoisted, leaving an eerie calm in the streets of the normally bustling city.
More than 740 flights to and from the city’s international airport were cancelled or delayed. By early afternoon, the storm was about 110km east of the city and moving away.
In the Philippines, Haima’s blinding winds and rain had rekindled fears of the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, but there had been no report of any major damage. Large casualties appeared to have been averted after more than 100,000 people fled to safer ground.
At least 13 people were killed, mostly in landslides and floods, in the fast-moving storm, officials said.
The extent of damage in Cagayan, about 500km north of Manila, where the typhoon made landfall, was evident in overturned vans and debris blocking roads. AP