Thailand, Vietnam brace as typhoon batters China
Published: 7:56PM Monday September 30, 2013 Source: Reuters
South China braces for typhoon - Source: APRelated
Seventy-four Chinese fishers are missing after a typhoon sunk three fishing boats in the South China Sea, as Thailand and Vietnam braced for torrential rain and flooding.
The ships were hit by Typhoon Wutip on Sunday as they navigated gales near the Paracel Islands, about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan, state news agency Xinhua said, citing sources with the Hainan maritime search and rescue centre.
Rescuers had rescued 14 survivors, the sources said. The boats were sailing from the southern province of Guangdong.
Rains from the storm were expected to reach Vietnam today before hitting Thailand tomorrow.
Thai officials warned that more heavy rains could inundate already flood-hit areas of the northeast. At least 22 people have been killed in this year's flooding.
"We're expecting more floods," Teerat Ratanasevi, a government spokesman, told reporters.
"Soldiers have been asked to help evacuate people trapped in flood zones."
Authorities in central Vietnam have moved children and elderly people to schools and other more solid buildings ahead of the storm.
In the central province of Quang Tri, an estimated 82,000 people would need to be evacuated if Wutip made a direct hit, a government statement said.
Typhoons gather strength from warm sea water and tend to dissipate after making landfall. They frequently hit Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China during a typhoon season that lasts from early summer to late autumn.Vietnam said heavy rain had been falling in several central provinces while flooding and landslides could strike the region later this week.
