The death toll from typhoon Son-Tinh has risen sharply in the Philippines as the storm continued to head towards China. According to AlertNet, the typhoon reached China at around 15:00 GMT:
Typhoon Son-tinh struck China at about 15:00 GMT on 27 October.Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall was near 17.8 N,108.3 E.Son-tinh brought 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 203 km/h (126 mph).Wind gusts in the area may have been considerably higher.
There is also the potential for flooding further inland due to heavy rain.
This storm comes amid various natural disasters, such as a landslide in Yunnan that buried a school and super typhoon Sanba. Xinhua reports that China was on orange alert, the second highest level on a four-tiered alert system, with high waves expected:
The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center said the tropical storm developed into a typhoon early Saturday morning and was heading toward the northwest with the same strength or slightly gaining force.
According to the forecast, waves up to five to eight meters will be seen in the west part of the sea in the 24 hours starting Saturday noon. Waves of three to five meters will be seen in the Northern Bay.
Waves up to 3.5 to 4.5 meters high will hit seas off the eastern and southern Hainan province. There could also be waves of two to three meters off the western Hainan province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
It has forecast up to 80 cm of precipitation on Saturday along the coast of eastern and southern Hainan province and eastern coast of Leizhou peninsula.
Aside from possible high waves, the typhoon has also grounded multiple flights, another Xinhua article reports:
Typhoon Son-Tinh, the 23rd tropical storm this year, has disrupted 122 flights and brought downpours to south China’s island province of Hainan.
Eighty-eight inbound and outbound flights were canceled and 34 others delayed, affecting 4,558 passengers, said an source with the Phoenix International Airport of Sanya, a city in southern Hainan.
Nearly 2,000 passengers were arranged to stay in local hotels, said the source. And airport staff were sending some of the stranded passengers by bus to the airport of Haikou, the provincial capital in the north of the island, to take other flights.
Rainstorm and strong gales hit Sanya on Saturday. Local flood prevention authorities were on high alert.
Read more about natural disasters in China, via CDT.
