Typhoon Mangkhut is now pounding the China’s most populous province, Guangdong. With wind speed of up to 162 meter per hour, the typhoon had earlier ravaged Hong Kong where it swayed skyscrapers and blew out windows. It claimed 49 lives in the Philippines before heading towards Hong Kong.
Mangkhut, considered the strongest storm this year, made landfall on the Chinese coast near Jiangmen city this afternoon local time. The Chinese state media reported that thousands of people had been evacuated from Guangdong and authorities issued their highest warning level, a red .
In Hong Kong, authorities also issued their maximum , with residents warned to stay indoors to avoid flying debris. Officials put the number of injured at 111 but the territory avoided a direct hit. Most shops and public services were shut, and more than 800 flights have been cancelled at Hong Kong International Airport – affecting more than one lakh passengers.
In the United States, storm Florence has claimed at least 12 lives. Some towns have already seen 60cm of rain in two days, with totals forecast to top one meter in places. Florence, which started out as a hurricane, has now weakened to a depression, the National Hurricane Center said today, but flash flooding and river floods will continue over a significant portion of the Carolinas.
