Gale force winds and heavy
rainstorms lashed western Guangdong Province last night as Typhoon
Prapiroon made landfall.
Prapiroon, the name means 'god of rain' in Thai, came inland
between Yangjiang and Dianbai at 7:20 PM with winds of up to gale
force 12.
More than a quarter of a million people were evacuated from the
area, which has been battered by successive typhoons over the
summer, and 40,000 ships were called back into Guangdong's
harbors.
Sources with the Guangdong provincial flood control and drought
relief office said emergency measures had been put in place before
the typhoon's arrival with ships recalled by noon yesterday.
Prapiroon is expected to hit the province even more ferociously
than previous typhoons this year.
The office, together with the State Flood Control and Drought
Relief Headquarters, sent two special working groups early
yesterday morning to deal with possible natural disasters triggered
by Prapiroon.
Heavy rain and strong winds are expected to continue to hit the
Pearl River Delta region after Prapiroon moves on. It's thought the
typhoon will head northwest to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region this morning,
Lin Liangxun, chief forecaster of the Guangdong Provincial
Meteorological Bureau said in an interview with China
Daily.
Ahead of Prapiroon's arrival, Guangdong and the neighboring Hong
Kong and Macao regions experienced heavy rain and strong winds
since Wednesday night.
"The rains in the western part of the Pearl River Delta region are
expected to last until Saturday," said Lin.
In provincial capital Guangzhou, heavy rain, whipped up by gale
force eight winds, started falling yesterday afternoon causing rush
hour traffic jams in most urban areas.
At least 19 flights to and from Hong Kong were grounded as of 2:00
PM yesterday because of the heavy rain, according to the Xinhua
News Agency.
Ships between Hong Kong, Macao and Shenzhen and trains running from
Hong Kong and Shenzhen were also cancelled.
In Macao, which got rainstorms yesterday morning, most businesses
and schools were forced to close for the day. Macao, which
neighbors Zhuhai in western Guangdong, has opened three temporary
shelters for those affected.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has urged
relevant local government organizations to remain alert over
Prapiroon as the country has already been hit hard this year by
five devastating typhoons.
Two previous typhoons, Billis and Kaemi, which landed in south
China last month, killed more than 600 people and brought about
huge economic losses.
It's predicted that five or six more tropical storms will form
around the South China Sea this month with two or possibly three
making landfall, said Lin.
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(
China Daily August 4, 2006)