Typhoon Khanun pummels East China city
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-09-11 16:58
Khanun, the No. 15 typhoon of this year has slammed into Taizhou city of East China's Zhejiang Province at 14:50 p.m. Sunday, the provincial source announced.
The typhoon, with force exceeding 12, will sweep the cities of Taizhou, Jinhua, Shaoxing, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou and then enter the Taihu Lake.
A Chinese pushes his tricycle in the rain against gusts of wind as Typhoon Khanun made landfall in the east coast of China, Sunday, September 11, 2005. [Xinhua]
The province has so far evacuated 814,267 people to safer places, said sources with the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters, adding that about 35,409 ships and vessels have returned to ports.
A Chinese woman prepares to step on a car to leave her home to a safter place on Sunday, September 11, 2005, in Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang Province. [Xinhua]
The headquarters still issued an urgent notice urging local people to prepare for the possible mountain torrents and other geological disasters which might inflicted by typhoon and torrential rains.
The provincial meteorological bureau forecast that in the coming six hours, strong winds at or above force 12 will sweep the sea waters in the coast of Zhejiang.
Chinese frontier defence forces carry a child to a safer place as Typhoon Khanun bears down on East China's Zhejiang Province, on Sunday, September 11, 2005. [Xinhua]
The coastal and inland areas as well as the rivers and lakes nearby the Hangzhou Bay of Zhejiang will be struck by strong winds with force hitting 8 to 12.
The cities of Wenzhou, Taizhou, Zhoushan, Shaoxing and Ningbo will suffer from torrential rains.
The provincial government urged relevant departments to fully prepare against the typhoon and try every means to protect people's life and property.
Authorities in Shanghai, China's financial centre north of Zhejiang, had issued the yellow warning signal, demanding that more than 100,000 people working outdoors or living in sheds and other temporary housing evacuate to safety.
"Heavy rainstorms will strike Shanghai Sunday and Monday, Xinhua said.
Typhoon Matsa swept up China's east coast at the beginning of August, killing three people and forcing more than a million to flee their homes.
At the beginning of this month, Typhoon Talim killed up to 56 people in eastern China after unleashing torrential rains and triggering floods and landslides.
Typhoons, known as hurricanes in the West, gather strength from warm sea water and tend to dissipate after making landfall.
