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Typhoon Conson hits Hainan; 2 killed

By Wang Huazhong and Huang Yiming (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-17 10:20

HAIKOU - Typhoon Conson, which killed 38 people in the Philippines earlier this week, landed in China's southern-most Hainan province on Friday night, forcing about 40,000 people to evacuate.

By 4 pm on Friday, 39,258 people had been evacuated from the province's cities and counties including Haikou, Wanning, Qiongzhong, Lingshui, Tuichan before Conson arrived, the local disaster relief authority said.

A tree is rooted out beside a car after the typhoon Conson ravages Sanya, South China's Hainan province, July 16, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Firefighters rescue a motorcycle rider hit by a falling billboard near a construction site on a expressway in Sanya, south China's Hainan province, July 16, 2010. He was found seriously injured and died at the site at about 8 pm on Friday. A security guard was also buried in debris after a giant billboard toppled at about 7:26 pm. The man was found dead at about 11 pm after rescuers pulled away the billboard with the help of machines. [Photo/Xinhua]

 

Most of the evacuees are fishermen and residents who were living in unsafe houses.

Conson landed on Sanya's Yalong Bay at 7:50 pm, with wind speeds of up to 35 meters per second, the local meteorological station said.

Related readings:  Flights, ferries halted as Typhoon Conson nears  Typhoon Conson to make landfall in Hainan today  Death toll hits 23 during Typhoon Conson  Hainan: tropical storm Conson approaching

Party secretary of the province Wei Liucheng ordered for 100 percent prevention efforts.

"All fishermen have returned to ports; all residents living in lower lands and unsafe houses have been evacuated and all reservoirs and major infrastructure remain safe," Wei said.

The province has prioritized prevention in tourist cities and counties in the path of the typhoon, the disaster relief authority said.

Local maritime authorities suspended all shipping services across the Qiongzhou Strait on Friday.

Moreover, 28 flights set to depart or land in two airports of the province's capital Haikou and major tourist attraction Sanya after 4 pm had been cancelled.

A water resources official, surnamed Ou, said some people had been expecting the typhoon's arrival to bring water to the dry island and bring down temperatures.

"The northern and central parts of the island had suffered water shortages, as the water level in the Wanquan River and major reservoirs was running low. Economic losses may have been higher if the typhoon had failed to bring along water.

"The locals can handle strong winds quite well thanks to decades of wind-battling experience," Ou said.

The typhoon is forecast to bring heavy rains to southwestern Guangdong province, southeastern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Hainan.

A tree falls on a car inside a residential community after Typhoon Canson lands in Sanya, south China's Hainan province , July 16, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Rains across South China since July 8 have kept exerting pressure around the mid and down stream reaches of the Yangtze River, according to Hydrology Bureau under the Changjiang Water Resources Commission.

The bureau said medium to heavy rains and partly torrential rains are expected around the reaches in the next three days.

Half of all 12 critical monitoring stations along the river observed rising water levels, in contrast to four where levels dropped while two remained unchanged, according to the commission's data.

"Even more serious floods are possible in the current peak flood season," Wei Shanzhong, director of the Yangtze River flood control and drought relief office said.

His office had ordered the Three Gorges Dam, which tames the river, to increase sluicing from 25,000 to 32,000 cubic meters per second between 1 pm to 7 pm on Thursday to make room for upstream water.

In Jiangxi province, rains are expected to continue for the next 10 days, continuing to push water levels even higher above warning lines in Jiujiang, a section of the Yangtze River, and Poyang lake, the flood control office said.

As of Friday, 200,000 people had been forced to evacuate their homes in 35 affected counties of the province.

About 3,564 soldiers, 600 paramilitary police and 500 firefighters had been dispatched for rescue operations in Jiangxi. The Nanjing Military Command has readied a troop of 5,000 on standby.

Huge waves flap the coast in the east of Hainan province as Typhoon Conson approaches, July 16, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]