Southern China, Vietnam brace for Typhoon 'Talim'

BEIJING, July 18 ------ Tens of thousands of people were being evacuated in southern China and Vietnam on Monday, and dozens of flights canceled as a typhoon barreled toward land.

Powerful winds, storm surges and lashing rains were forecast to hammer China's southern coastline, from Guangdong to Hainan provinces, when Typhoon "Talim" makes landfall on Monday night, the China Meteorological Administration said. The forecaster has issued an orange alert the second-highest warning in its four-tier color-coded system saying the storm was expected to increase in intensity to become a severe typhoon.

In Vietnam, authorities said they were preparing to evacuate about 30,000 people from the areas forecast to be hardest hit in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong provinces from Monday afternoon. The storm "might be one of the biggest to hit the Gulf of Tonkin in recent years," Vietnam's top disaster response committee said in an online statement. Tourists have been advised to leave outlying islands and airlines have rescheduled services to avoid the storm.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed disaster response teams to prepare for "immediate rescue and relief works" on Sunday night, warning of possible floods. At least 1,000 people were evacuated in the city of Yunfu in Guangdong, the state-backed Southern Daily reported. As of 2 p.m., Talim was 280 kilometers southwest of Hong Kong, the city's weather observatory said. Trading on Hong Kong's $5.2-trillion stock market was canceled on Monday as the Asian financial hub came to a standstill. The Hong Kong Observatory has warned of possible flooding in low-lying areas due to a storm surge and ferries and most bus services in the city were suspended. More than 1,000 travelers were affected by flight cancellations and delays, the Hong Kong Airport Authority said.

Authorities in China's southern Hainan island asked ships in nearby waters to return to port after the local marine forecasting station warned of waves of up to 6 meters (20 feet), Beijing-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Ferry services between Hainan and Guangdong were suspended early on Sunday. The Meilan International and Qionghai Boao airports, both on Hainan, have canceled all flights, state media reported. Zhuhai Jinwan Airport in Guangdong, near Macao, canceled more than 80 flights, local reports said. Scientists have warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer with climate change.

Source: manilatimes.net