More than 20,000 fishing boats had returned to harbor in the
southern island province of Hainan by Wednesday morning as typhoon Cimaron
approaches, according to the local government.
All boats were asked to be back in harbor by Wednesday night,
according to the provincial flood, drought and wind control
headquarters.
The eye of Typhoon Cimaron, the 20th to affect China this year,
was about 420 kilometers east of Hainan's Wanning City at 8 AM on
Wednesday, packing winds of up to 162 km per hour, said the
provincial meteorological observatory.
The typhoon was expected to pass about 100 km to the south of
Hainan island on Thursday and land on Vietnam on Friday, according
to the observatory.
Heavy rains and gales were forecast for the island province from
Wednesday night to Friday, according to the observatory.
Shipping services across the Qiongzhou Strait between Hainan
island and the mainland have remained normal so far and rail and
air traffic has not been affected, according to the
headquarters.
Cimaron, the Philippine word for "wild ox", formed Friday east
of the Philippines and has since intensified into a severe
typhoon.
(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2006)