More than 180,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas
to safe places in south China's Guangdong Province as typhoon Chanchu, the
first tropical storm of this year, is approaching.
The province had called back 25,219 ships operating on sea by
Tuesday night, according to the provincial disaster relief office
on Wednesday.
According to the latest broadcast of the provincial
meteorological station, Chanchu was located at a sea area 440
kilometers south of Shanwei City in Guangdong by 8:00 AM Wednesday,
and it was moving northeastward with the maximum wind speed of 45
meters per second at its center, or 14 on the wind scale.
Influenced by typhoon Chanchu, force 8 gale was reported in
central Guangdong and sea areas east of the province, and force 6
to 8 gales were also reported in areas near the estuary of the
Pearl River and southeastern coastal areas of Guangdong, said the
provincial meteorological station.
Typhoon Chanchu is expected to move northward at a speed of 20
km or 23 km per hour in upcoming 24 hours, said Huang Zhong, a
weatherman with the meteorological station of Guangzhou, capital of
Guangdong Province.
The typhoon may land in the coastal areas between Huidong and
Raoping Counties between noon and night on Wednesday or may move
toward the Taiwan Strait, passing the eastern coast of Guangdong,
Huang said.
Whether the typhoon lands in Guangdong or not, it would
powerfully influence the province, Huang said.
Considering Typhoon Chanchu's route of movement and its
strength, the Guangdong Provincial Hydrological Bureau forecast
that the typhoon might bring storm tides to the eastern coastal
areas of Guangdong, resulting in the rise of sea level much higher
than the danger mark and threatening the safety of ships and life
of people in these areas.
Currently, local governments have called on all ships operating
on sea and residents of coastal areas to evacuate from dangerous
places as quickly as possible.
Chanchu, whose name means "pearl", formed in the northwestern
Pacific, about 550 km to the east of Mindanao island in the
Philippines on May 9. It hit central Philippines on Saturday,
killing at least 32 people and leaving more than 1,000 others
homeless.
(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2006)