Society

Flights, ferries halted as Typhoon Conson nears

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-16 20:18

HAIKOU - More than 150 people were stranded Friday at a port in south China's Hainan Province after shipping services and flights were halted as Typhoon Conson crept toward the island.

Services linking Xiuying Port, in Hainan's Haikou City, to other parts of China were halted at 5 p.m. Thursday, said Mo Guangzhao, customer services manager of the Haikou Gangwu Xiuying Ferry Company.

Local passengers went home, but more than 150 passengers from other cities were still in the waiting room, he said.

Related readings:  Typhoon Conson to make landfall in Hainan today  Hunt for Philippine fishermen after killer typhoon continues  Millions brace for coming typhoon in S China  Death toll hits 23 during Typhoon Conson

The company had given them food and water.

Conson is expected to make landfall in Hainan late Friday or early Saturday, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.

However, the typhoon's center could also brush past Hainan, said the headquarters.

Eleven flights due to depart after 4:20 p.m. Friday from Haikou's Meilan Airport were canceled, said the airport.

Seventeen flights from Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, on the typhoon's projected path, were canceled late Friday.

The airports had notified passengers of the cancellations and promised refunds or alternative flights.

Phoenix airport had prepared buses and made reservations at more than 10 hotels for stranded passengers, said Yang Zaijun, ground services manager at the airport.

Hainan's flood control headquarters earlier Friday ordered the reinforcement of dikes at reservoirs as the typhoon was expected to bring heavy rains late Friday.

Western Guangdong Province and neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will also see torrential rains Friday night and Saturday as Conson moves northwest at 15 to 20 km per hour.

More than 20,000 people in Guangdong had been evacuated from areas in the path of the typhoon, the provincial flood control headquarters said Friday.

Guangxi's weather department Friday forecast Conson probably would not hit the region.

Ten fishing vessels were capsized by Conson and sank late Thursday at a port in the Xisha Islands, off the southeast coast of Hainan, after the provincial disaster prevention headquarters alerted fishing boats to return to port.

No casualties have been reported.

Conson was downgraded to a tropical storm after wreaking havoc in the Philippines, leaving at least 39 people dead and 87 missing as of Friday afternoon, but strengthened again to become a typhoon late Thursday.