New Storm Forces Hundreds Of Thousands To Evacuate In Southern China
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Hong Kong, China (AHN) - Typhoon "Prapiroon" is expected to hit southern China on Thursday as government disaster preparedness teams ordered the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents to avoid its onslaught. The typhoon, which left six people killed and forced thousands to flee their homes in northern Philippines, was spotted 180 miles southwest of Hong Kong and is expected to travel at about 8.68 miles per hour towards China's Guangdong province. China's Central Meteorological Office estimates the center of typhoon to hit between the cities of Yangjiang and Xuwen by Thursday afternoon or early evening. Southern China is still reeling from the devastations brought by two recent typhoons, "Bilis" and "Kaemi" which left hundreds of people dead and the destruction of millions in dollars in agriculture and infrastructure damages. The government has since suspended all rail services between Guangdong and the island province of Hainan in anticipation of the typhoon. Forecasters say the typhoon will also affect the provinces of Guangxi and Guizhou. Authorities have already evacuated some 65,000 to higher places and is expected to evacuated thousands more as the need arises. Residents have been warned of landslides, flash floods. Emergency workers were seen reinforcing billboards and scaffolding on construction sites because of the anticipated strong win |
