Typhoon Haikui hits China 8th August 2012

[JennyLeez]

Typhoon Haikui struck China on Wednesday, packing winds of up to 110km (68 mph), prompting officials to evacuate nearly 2 million people and grounding hundreds of flights to and from Shanghai and other cities.
More than 1.5 million people in the eastern province of Zhejiang and 252,000 residents of outlying parts of Shanghai were evacuated after Haikui landed early in the morning, causing flooding and stranding hundreds of people, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
More than 500 domestic and international flights to and from Shanghai's two airports, Hongqiao and Pudong, have been cancelled as of 10:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), the Shanghai Airport Authority said on its microblogging account.
China's top three carriers - Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd - have also cancelled all flights to and from Hangzhou and Ningbo, both south of Shanghai, until noon, they said.
No ships had been allowed in or out of Shanghai's ports, the world's busiest by container volume, since Tuesday night, an official at the Shanghai Water Authority said.
Another key port in Ningbo, in Zhejiang province, has also been shut.
Some trains to and from Shanghai, the country's commercial hub, have also been cancelled. The city's financial markets remained open, however.
By late evening, the centre of the typhoon is expected to have moved northwest although wet and windy conditions are likely to persist, according to Tropical Risk Storm's website.
Haikui forced nearly 270,000 people in the Philippines to flee their homes, prompting authorities to close schools, financial markets and offices.


A farmer moves on a flooded path to check his aquatic farming ponds in Hepu township in Xiangshan county, Zhejiang province, China on August 8, 2012. Typhoon Haikui, the third hitting China in a week, landed in Hepu early on Wednesday.


A car drives beside a fallen road sign in Xiangshan, Zhejiang province on August 8, 2012, after Typhoon Haikui made landfall.

This follows on from the battering Taiwan had late last week where 5 people were killed and 15 injuried.
Below a taxi sits half-submerged on a flooded road in New Taipei City, Taiwan on August 2, 2012. Typhoon Saola pounded Taiwan with fierce winds and torrential rain that forced nearly the entire island to shut down on August 2, rescuers said.

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