Gale-force winds and heavy rains lashed coastal areas along the
Qiongzhou Strait on Monday, as this year's 14th tropical storm,
Francisco, made landfall at noon in Hainan Province.
Local flood-control and drought-relief offices in Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi and Fujian provinces are all keeping a close eye
on the development of the storm, as it is expected to bring more
heavy rain to western coastal areas of south China.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the storm has already
caused a fishing boat with eight people on board to capsize. Two
people have so far been rescued, but six are still missing.
The tropical storm, with winds of nearly 72kph at its center,
landed in Wenchang on the island province of Hainan at 12:30
yesterday. It was expected to move westward and arrive in the Beibu
Bay area last night.
Lu Shan, a chief forecaster with the Guangdong weather bureau,
said: "Francisco is expected to affect the western costal area in
Guangdong greatly, bringing heavy rainfall in the days to
come."
There will be no moon to see at this year's Mid-Autumn Festival
that falls today, he said.
All shipping services in the Qiongzhou Strait, situated between
Guangdong and Hainan provinces, were called off at 7 am
yesterday.
As of 10 am yesterday, some 58,700 ships were recalled before
the storm arrived. In Guangdong alone, 16,933 ships were called
back.
The China Central Meteorological Office said areas around the
north-central South China Sea, Beibu Bay and the coasts of Hainan,
Guangdong and Guangxi provinces all face high winds of up to force
nine on the Beaufort scale.
In addition, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought
Relief Headquarters yesterday dispatched a working group to Hainan
to coordinate efforts with local authorities to fight the tropical
storm.
And officials from the Guangdong flood-control office yesterday
called for more efforts to stay alerts to upcoming heavy rains, as
a large number of water facilities on the Leizhou Peninsula, which
were badly damaged last month by Typhoon Pabuk, have not yet been
repaired.
(China Daily September 26, 2007)
