Storms hit southern China mainland in wake of Typhoon Wipha

BEIJING: Storms drenched southern parts of the Chinese mainland on Monday, triggering warnings of flash floods and landslides, a day after Typhoon Wipha pounded Hong Kong.

Heavy rain lashed the cities of Yangjiang, Zhanjiang and Maoming in China’s southern province Guangdong after the storm system made landfall on Sunday evening.

On Sunday it brushed past Hong Kong where it felled trees and scaffolding, grounded flights and sent nearly 280 people into shelters.

China’s national forecaster said Wipha had weakened to a tropical storm upon landfall, and forecast it would skirt the coast of Guangdong and move towards Vietnam.

Heavy rain is forecast for mainland China’s coastal regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Fujian provinces until Tuesday morning, with warnings of flash floods, landslides and wind hazards.

Floods exceeding warning levels occurred in 20 rivers across the country due to Wipha, state broadcaster CCTV cited the water resources ministry as saying on Monday.

But many areas doused in heavy rainfall have recovered from the impact quickly, CCTV said.

Authorities had enforced traffic controls at major expressways connecting the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai to Hong Kong as well as at ports, and these were lifted by Sunday night.

Train services disrupted by the storm were also gradually resumed throughout Monday.

The public was advised to remain vigilant about any secondary disasters, CCTV said during the noon bulletin on Monday.

The system will move into the Gulf of Tonkin late on Monday morning, over which it will gather intensity before hitting Vietnam’s northern coast, the Chinese forecaster said.

Ahead of Wipha’s expected landfall early on Tuesday, Vietnam put coastal provinces on emergency footing, warning of potentially dangerous flooding and landslides.

Vietnam’s prime minister sent an urgent message to coastal regions on Sunday night to call boats ashore, evacuate people from flood-prone areas, prepare food supplies and rescue equipment and secure communication infrastructure.

Dozens of flights were also cancelled or rescheduled as airlines in the country braced for the typhoon.