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Thousands evacuated

Update: 8 p.m.

More than 50,000 people in southern China have been evacuated in the path of Typhoon Haima, which killed at least 13 people in the Philippines before moving northward.

No deaths have been reported Saturday from the typhoon in China. Local authorities and state media say residents in the cities of Shanwei and Shantou, in China's Guangdong province, were forced to move to safer ground as the storm hit Friday.

Haima triggered landslides and heavy flooding in the northern Philippines, but mass casualties appear to have been averted as more than 100,000 people fled to safety.

China suspended dozens of flights and train services in the south on Friday, and Hong Kong shut down schools and trading on the stock market.


Typhoon Haima barrelled into southern China on Friday after hammering the northern Philippines with ferocious wind and rain, triggering flooding, landslides and power outages and killing at least 13 people.

Chinese meteorological services said the typhoon made landfall shortly after noon in the city of Shanwei in Guangdong province, packing winds of up to 166 km/h before weakening to a tropical storm.

No major damage was immediately reported, though reports said some villages had experienced power outages and officials were on alert for heavy flooding and landslides.

China had suspended dozens of flights and rail services in several southern provinces. In the city of Shenzhen, authorities ordered schools, markets and factories to close, halted public transportation and evacuated some areas.

Hong Kong hunkered down as Haima lashed the financial hub. Schools and offices were shut, trading on the stock market suspended and commuter ferry services halted after the third most serious storm signal was hoisted, leaving an eerie calm in the streets of the normally bustling city. More than 740 flights to and from the city's international airport were cancelled or delayed. 

In the Philippines, Haima's blinding winds and rain on Thursday had rekindled fears of the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which left 7,300 dead, but there has been no report of any major damage. Large casualties appeared to have been averted after more than 100,000 people fled to safer ground. Several villages were cut off by fallen trees, landslides and floods, impeding communications and aid.

At least 13 people were killed, mostly in landslides and floods, in the fast-moving storm, officials said. But the evacuations from high-risk communities helped prevent a larger number of casualties and thousands were still in emergency shelters due to a powerful that hit the north a few days.



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